Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s ‘cheated’ wife could help seal his impeachment: State Sen. Angela braces for impeachment vote over allegations her husband helped woman he was with had an affair to find a job
- Embattled AG asked a House panel to recommend multiple charges for impeachment
- Paxton told staff he had an affair with a woman who got a job with a developer/donor
- His wife Angela serves in the State Senate; Paxton criticized ‘liberal’ GOP leaders
The staggering impeachment charges against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have sparked a process in which he would be temporarily removed from office after a successful House vote – and where his wife Angela could sit on trial in the Senate in the amid sordid accusations involving an affair.
On Thursday, a Republican-led committee issued a recommendation to remove the embattled AG after years of investigations and allegations. He was indicted in 2015 for securities fraud, but did not stand trial.
One charge relates to allegations of corruption involving property developer and Paxton donor Nate Paul. Paul is accused of giving the woman Paxton was having an affair a job in exchange for legal assistance.
Paxton spoke to staff members about the 2018 case, the Associated press reported in November 2020, days before Paxton helped lead a legal effort to help former President Donald Trump overturn the election results. A group of aides who accused Paxton of corruption were fired, then awarded $3.3 million in public funds as part of a settlement.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton faces multiple impeachment charges in the Republican-controlled Texas State House. His wife, Angela, is a state senator who must decide whether or not to recuse herself from participating in her impeachment “trial” in the Senate.
If the Republican-dominated House votes to impeach him, Paxton would be temporarily removed from office before his trial in the state Senate, where his wife, Senator Angela Paxton, will have to decide whether or not to participate in the proceedings.
The former math professor was elected in 2018 and stood alongside Paxton when he spoke at Trump’s “Save America” rally outside the White House on January 6, 2020.
She could decide to recuse herself from the ruling — it would be just the third public official impeached in Texas’ 200 years — or the state Senate could make a decision on how these matters should be handled, the Houston Chronicle reported.
The Justice Department opened its own investigation in February after a series of Paxton aides brought allegations to the FBI.
The five-member House panel, which includes three Republicans and two Democrats, recommended 20 articles of impeachment.
The State House is heavily Republican, with the 149-member chamber split 85-64 — but Paxton has been at war with the state’s GOP leadership.
paxton attacked the “liberal leadership” of the House of GOP, and says they have “shown nothing but contempt for the traditional values of conservative Texas.”
He also attacked “liberal” Republican House Speaker David Phelan, demanded his resignation and accused him of being drunk during a marathon session last Friday.
Phelan’s office brushed off the accusation as Paxton tried to “save face”.
By hiring him, “the RINOs in the Texas Legislative Assembly are now on the same side as Joe Biden,” Paxton said.
The state Senate, which is controlled by Republicans 19-12, would hold Paxton’s impeachment “trial”.
The developer, Paul, denies the charges against him and is embroiled in his own legal saga. It was sentenced to jail in march, ager lost an appeal in a legal battle with a nonprofit organization.
