Recently Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has been on impeachment trial for the misuse of of public funds, abuse of office, and taking bribes. Ken Paxton is the 51st attorney general of the state of Texas, elected on November 4, 2014 and sworn in on January 5, 2015, Paxton has since served another term (2018), and was reelected in 2022 for his 3rd, and potentially last term. The trial started with Paxton’s former aides testifying that they felt it was their duty to report Paxton to the FBI for his crimes (as listed before). If Paxton is found guilty by state senate he would be removed from office and could even be prevented from holding any political office in the future. This trial not only affects his political standing, but also his wife’s who is State Senator Angela Paxton (R). The Texas Senate rejected all motions from K. Paxton to dismiss the articles of impeachment, making this the first removal proceeding in over a century against a statewide elected official.
The allegations are based on Paxton improperly using his political standing and powers to protect Nate Paul. Nate Paul is an Austin real estate developer who earlier this summer was indicted on charges of making false statements to banks which lent him roughly $170 million. While this trial could severely affect Texas state politics, it could also affect the Presidential election. Another notable Republican and ally of the attorney general is former president Donald Trump who is being faced with charges of tampering with 2020 election results. With all this in mind former congressman Louie Gohmert critically states that this trial and Ken Paxton could “destroy the Republican party”. While this is a rather large claim to make and could even be viewed as “dramatic” we must remember as we see more and more government officials in the news for being on trial for abuse of power and other unbecoming charges, that all of this is far from normal and should not be taken lightly.
This is not what US politics should look like.
We as the American people with local, state, and federal elections coming up should keep in mind if these are the people we want running our country and put into power. It is our duty to keep these government officials held responsible, and it starts with trials like these and keeping ourselves informed.
