America’s sharp partisan divide means that more state governments are run by a single party. This can lead to unchecked corruption unless parties police their own. The impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that began Tuesday will show if Lone Star State Republicans are up to the task.
The Texas Senate convened in Austin to consider evidence after the state House voted in May to impeach Mr. Paxton and suspend him from office temporarily. Mr. Paxton is disputing all 16 impeachment articles. But he’ll be removed from office if at least 21 of the state’s 31 Senators vote to convict on any of the charges.
Mr. Paxton’s path to impeachment began in February when he approached the Legislature with an odd request. He wanted $3.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by whistleblowers, yet he declined to discuss the case. Puzzled legislators believed the request might be related to a corruption story first reported in 2020, and they launched an investigation.
Their report in May affirmed and fleshed out allegations about Mr. Paxton’s dealings with Nate Paul, a real-estate developer. Mr. Paul donated $25,000 to the Attorney General’s 2018 re-election campaign. In exchange, the House report claimed, Mr. Paxton intervened in a 2019 federal investigation into Mr. Paul’s business, releasing law-enforcement records he hoped would aid his supporter’s defense.
The report also claimed that Mr. Paul funded a renovation of Mr. Paxton’s home and hired a woman with whom the Attorney General “was having an extramarital affair.”
The story became public later that year when seven of Mr. Paxton’s employees alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the alleged misconduct. Mr. Paxton fired the four who didn’t resign, which prompted the lawsuit he tried to settle this year. These details spurred the House impeachment vote, in which 121 of 149 members voted in favor, including 60 Republicans.
All 12 Senate Democrats will likely vote to convict Mr. Paxton at trial, leaving the chamber’s 18 voting Republicans as the deciding votes. Sen. Angela Paxton, the AG’s wife, is barred from voting on the case.
A VOTE to convict carries political risk. Mr. Paxton has developed a national following as a conservative firebrand, filing high-profile lawsuits on immigration, abortion and healthcare that lose as much as they win. He was re-elected last year with 53% of the vote, and Donald Trump has defended him and attacked his impeachers.
The Texas GOP has held both legislative houses since 2003. The trend reflects voters’ preferences, but one-party control also makes it easy to ignore corruption. Politicians in one-party states sometimes survive for years despite credible allegations. Exhibit A is former Speaker Mike Madigan in Democratic-dominated Illinois.
Mr. Paxton’s defenders say the impeachment vote was motivated by a political vendetta among House members, while his detractors fear his longtime Senate allies will be intimidated by outside pressure, no matter the evidence. Credit so far goes to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who seems intent on running a fair Senate trial that could be an example of how a party in power can hold its own accountable.
— Wall Street Journal
