Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Impeachment Trial Begins

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claims his impeachment is a “politically motivated sham” and an effort to disenfranchise voters.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the launch of an antitrust investigation into large tech companies outside of the Supreme Court in Washington on Sept. 9, 2019. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

The impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton began on Tuesday at the Texas Senate, which could lead to him being ousted from office.

Mr. Paxton was impeached in May by the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives. which voted 121–123 to charge him with abuse of office and bribery. The vote immediately led to his suspension and made Mr. Paxton the third sitting Texas official in almost two centuries to be impeached.