{"id":2018599,"date":"2023-08-31T19:45:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T23:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-depth-what-to-know-ahead-of-texas-ag-ken-paxtons-historic-impeachment-trial\/"},"modified":"2023-08-31T19:47:15","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T23:47:15","slug":"in-depth-what-to-know-ahead-of-texas-ag-ken-paxtons-historic-impeachment-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-depth-what-to-know-ahead-of-texas-ag-ken-paxtons-historic-impeachment-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas AG Ken Paxton&#8217;s Impeachment Trial: Key Points to Remember"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fin-depth-what-to-know-ahead-of-texas-ag-ken-paxtons-historic-impeachment-trial%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2018599&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Texas Lawmakers Prepare for Historic \u2064Impeachment Trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton<\/h2>\n<p>Texas lawmakers\u200d are finalizing preparations for the \u200bhistoric impeachment trial of suspended\u2062 Attorney General Ken Paxton. On Tuesday, just a week ahead of the pending trial, \u200bstate senators met at the state Capitol to go over rules and procedures. \u2062Steven Aranyi, a spokesman for\u200d Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, confirmed to The Dallas Morning News that no voting on \u200bany pending motions took place during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/footage-released-of-violent-myanmar-protests-after-at-least-38-people-killed\/\" title=\"Footage Released Of Violent Myanmar Protests After At Least 38 People Killed\">closed-door session<\/a>, including Mr. Paxton&#8217;s\u2063 motions to dismiss the articles of impeachment.<\/p>\n<p>It is unclear why the Senators have not responded to\u2064 the numerous motions to\u2063 dismiss the articles, \u2064but\u200c the processes\u2063 for the trial are not clear-cut, given the\u200c rarity of such procedures.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/texas-ag-ken-paxton-says-he-will-not-resign-ahead-of-impeachment-trial-5482484\">Texas AG Ken Paxton Says He Will Not Resign Ahead of Impeachment Trial<\/a> &#8211; 8\/30\/2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/fbi-arrests-texas-businessman-in-wake-of-impeachment-of-state-attorney-general-ken-paxton-5325323\">FBI Arrests\u2062 Texas \u2064Businessman in Wake of Impeachment\u2062 of State Attorney General Ken Paxton<\/a> &#8211; 6\/10\/2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Impeachments are very rare in Texas, and the trials are even rarer,&#8221; Brian L. Owsley,\u2063 associate professor of law at the University\u2064 of Texas at Dallas, told The Epoch Times. &#8220;So, this is a quantified legal process, and there are things that are legal in nature on some level, but at the same time, it&#8217;s also a political process.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As \u2063for the motions to dismiss, Mr. Owsley said it would lend efficiency to \u2062the process to do so upfront if \u200cthe Senate intends \u200dto\u200b grant any of the motions. &#8220;They can also decide to\u2062 hear all the evidence and then decide whether \u2064or not they want to grant them,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Paxton is only the third sitting official to be impeached in the nearly 200-year \u200chistory of the \u2062state.<\/p>\n<h3>The Judge<\/h3>\n<p>As president\u200c of the Texas Senate, Mr.\u2062 Patrick is tasked with presiding as judge over the proceedings. From the beginning of this unprecedented case, he has promised Texans he would conduct a \u2062transparent process and a fair trial.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Patrick is arguably the most powerful lieutenant governor in \u200dthe state\u2019s history, with a reputation for getting his way. \u200cMost recently, he stood his ground during a \u2064public battle against House Speaker Dade Phelan over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-senate-introduces-16-5-billion-property-tax-relief-plan\/\" title=\"Texas Senate Introduces .5 Billion Property Tax Relief Plan\">property tax cuts<\/a>, which eventually passed.<\/p>\n<p>Steve Armbruster, chairman of the Williamson County GOP, told The Texas Tribune that he initially had some concerns about Mr. Patrick\u2019s ability to preside fairly over the trial. &#8220;I will be honest; \u200bI was concerned that Patrick was gonna put his thumb on the scale,&#8221; Mr. Ambruster said. &#8220;Anyone that pays\u2062 attention to Texas politics knows that there\u2019s only one vote that matters in the Texas Senate, and that\u2019s the lieutenant governor\u2019s.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Over the weekend, Mr. Patrick quickly\u200d denied an\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LtGovTX\/status\/1695538079409287429\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">allegation<\/a> on X by Scott Braddock,\u2062 editor of the Quorum Report, who claimed there &#8220;*may* be back-channeling&#8221; to Paxton,\u200c suggesting \u2064he should resign ahead of the trial to &#8220;make it easier on everyone.&#8221; &#8220;This is total false reporting. There are no &#8216;back channel&#8217; \u2063conversations with any party to the proceedings. This is a\u2063 fabricated story \u2062and an outrageous and irresponsible tweet by nothing but a hack writer \u2064who often <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-ag-ken-paxton-says-he-will-not-resign-ahead-of-impeachment-trial\/\" title=\"Texas AG Ken Paxton refuses to resign before impeachment trial.\">spreads false information<\/a> without\u2062 any facts,&#8221; Mr. Patrick\u200c wrote in response to Mr. Braddock\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Patrick announced this \u2064week that retired Judge Lana Myers would serve\u200d as his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/texas-ag-ken-paxton-says-he-will-not-resign-ahead-of-impeachment-trial-5482484\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">personal legal counsel<\/a> and assist him during the proceedings that will undoubtedly place\u200b him under close scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Myers, who has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/is-bill-maher-televisions-last-true-liberal\/\" title=\"Is Bill Maher Television\u2019s Last True Liberal?\">decades-long career<\/a> as an\u2062 attorney and judge, was appointed by former Gov. Rick Perry (R) to serve as a Justice of the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals in 2009. She held the position until her retirement in 2022. Previously, she served as a judge in Dallas County from 1995 to 2009 and as an assistant \u200cdistrict attorney for Dallas County from 1982 to 1994.<\/p>\n<h3>The Jury<\/h3>\n<p>The Texas Senate chamber has\u2063 been transformed into a courtroom where the managers, made up of House members and outside lawyers, and Mr. Paxton&#8217;s\u200b attorneys will \u2063argue their\u200d cases before a jury of Senators who will be left\u2063 to decide whether or not the state&#8217;s top lawyer will return to his\u200d job.<\/p>\n<p>Thirty-one state senators \u201419\u200c Republicans\u200c and \u200d12 Democrats \u2014 will be present on the jury, but only 30\u200b of \u2063the members will\u2063 be permitted to participate and vote, according to the impeachment trial rules. Mr. Paxton&#8217;s wife, Sen. Angela Paxton (R), is barred\u200d from participating as a juror under the rules approved earlier this summer. (<a href=\"https:\/\/senate.texas.gov\/_assets\/coi\/docs\/SR_35.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pdf<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Her ineligibility pushes\u2062 the two-thirds threshold needed to convict her\u2062 husband on each of the articles of impeachment from 20 \u2063to 21 votes.<\/p>\n<h3>Motions to Dismiss Articles of Impeachment<\/h3>\n<p>Attorneys for Mr.\u2064 Paxton over the past month filed a slew of motions requesting all\u200b 20 impeachment articles \u2014 and\u200b some evidence \u2063\u2014 be tossed out before the trial begins, citing his\u2062 actions.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Paxton&#8217;s legal team, which includes high-profile Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee, argues that &#8220;any alleged conduct&#8221;\u2064 occurring prior to January 2023 should be excluded in accordance with a rule known as\u2064 the &#8220;prior-term doctrine&#8221; in Section 665.081 of the \u200bTexas Constitution\u2063 (<a href=\"https:\/\/statutes.capitol.texas.gov\/Docs\/GV\/htm\/GV.665.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pdf<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>The rule states that if the citizens elect an \u2063official whose allegations of misconduct\u200d were made known to the public before the election, the accusations cannot be a basis\u200b for removing the official from office.<\/p>\n<p>But what it does not make clear is\u200c whether \u200bthe rule defines elected to office as the first time an official is elected or, as in Mr. Paxton&#8217;s case, reelected to \u2062office.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the U.S., the way judges decide things is they look at statutes. Obviously, they also look at how other judges have interpreted similar situations,&#8221; Mr. Owsley said. &#8220;The problem here is, \u200bwith respect to trial, there aren&#8217;t a lot of similar situations,&#8221; adding\u200b that \u200dit&#8217;s ultimately up to the Senators to decide how to interpret the rule and move forward.<\/p>\n<p>In a 46-page filing \u2064to dismiss all but one of the articles, an exhibit lists\u200b more than 30 pages of\u2064 news headlines regarding Paxton&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-depth-what-to-know-ahead-of-texas-ag-ken-paxtons-historic-impeachment-trial\/\" title=\"Texas AG Ken Paxton's Impeachment Trial: Key Points to Remember\">alleged\u200d misconduct dating back<\/a> to January \u200d2015, concerning three felony \u200bindictments that accuse the attorney general of misleading investors while raising funds for a technology company in Collin\u2064 County.<\/p>\n<p>A later filing called for the dismissal of the remaining\u200c article of impeachment.<\/p>\n<p>But, House managers said in a memo\u2064 dated May \u200c26, 2023, one day before the House voted to impeach Mr. Paxton, that \u2064the rule does not apply to impeachment. &#8220;The\u2063 Texas\u2064 Supreme Court has held that this provision does not apply \u200cwhen the\u200d Texas Constitution authorizes a procedure for\u2064 removing a state officer,&#8221; they wrote (<a href=\"https:\/\/house.texas.gov\/_media\/pdf\/committees\/GI-Impeachment-Memo.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pdf<\/a>).<\/p>\n<h3>The Impeachment<\/h3>\n<p>The Texas House, led by Mr. Phelan, overwhelmingly voted to \u2064impeach Mr. Paxton for allegations \u2064of abuse of power and bribery, among others,\u2064 in a \u200dvote of 121-23, with 60 of the 85 Republicans voting with Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>In October 2020, eight top deputies in Mr. Paxton&#8217;s agency reported him to the \u2063FBI for allegedly\u2063 using his office to help\u2063 Austin real estate investor Nate Paul, who donated $25,000 to the attorney general&#8217;s reelection campaign in\u2062 2018.<\/p>\n<p>All of the\u2063 so-called whistleblowers were fired \u200bor resigned, but the accusations \u2062led to\u200d a federal investigation that was taken over by the Department o<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas lawmakers are getting ready for the impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton. State senators recently gathered at the Capitol to discuss rules and procedures. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick&#8217;s spokesman, Steven Aranyi, confirmed that no changes were made to the trial&#8217;s timeline. The historic trial is set to begin next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1556,"featured_media":2018600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2018599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1556"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2018599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2018600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2018599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2018599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2018599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}