AG Paxton Cleared of Sham Impeachment Charges: Part 1
This is the first article in a three-part series on the aftermath of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial.
September 22, 2023 | Austin, TX
by Jon Bouché, Vice Chairman, Montgomery County Republican Party
In the November 8, 2022, General Election, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was re-elected to his third term after receiving 4,278,986 votes and defeating his Democrat Challenger. Prior to the General Election, AG Paxton faced a Primary challenger, George P. Bush, whom Paxton defeated decisively with 68 percent of the vote.
During his time in office, Paxton has become a political force beyond the borders of the Lone Star State. He has prevailed in 77 percent of the cases that he has brought against the federal government. As you may recall, Paxton was leading the charge to audit the election results after the 2020 Presidential Election, which saw Joe Biden take the lead in the dead of night and then somehow amass an impossible 81 million votes to get installed into the White House. So naturally, he is viewed as a significant threat to the Uniparty in D.C.
RINO Retaliation
Facing a constant barrage of attacks, AG Paxton asked the Texas House earlier this year to budget what amounted to a $3.3 million “nuisance fee” to settle a suit filed by four former “whistleblower” employees against the Office of the Attorney General. The request was made to avoid taxpayers being saddled with ongoing legal fees exceeding this amount if the case went to trial. The House rejected Paxton’s request.
Instead, House Speaker Dade Phelan announced in May that there was a “secret committee” that had been investigating Paxton. Twenty articles of impeachment against Paxton were immediately introduced to the House. The House prosecution team went on to include the “whistleblowers” in the Senate trial where their claims fell apart under examination on the stand.
“Coincidentally,” the revelation of this secret committee came within 24 hours of Paxton calling for the resignation of Speaker Phelan for being drunk on the House floor while conducting the people’s business.
Currently, Paxton is going after Google and Facebook, “Big Pharma,” and standing against the sexualization of children, but none of that mattered to the RINOs in the Texas House. When Paxton called for Phelan’s resignation for “presiding over the House of Representatives in an obviously intoxicated state,” it was apparently a bridge too far for the Texas RINOs.
Impeachment Moves Forward Despite Lack of Evidence
It was certainly no surprise that the RINO establishment joined forces with the Democrats to go after AG Paxton, but what surprised many was the number of Republican House Members who followed Speaker Phelan over the cliff.
Of the 85 Republicans in the House, only 23 had the courage to vote against the impeachment process. Those voting against impeachment included Montgomery County Representatives Steve Toth (HD 15) and Cecil Bell (HD 3).
In all, 60 Republican House members joined 61 Democrats in the impeachment vote, despite knowing that the House rules had been violated and that there was no evidence presented to support any of the 20 articles of impeachment that had been read on the House floor.
Standard of Evidence
When the trial began in the Texas Senate on September 5, one of the pre-trial motions made by AG Paxton’s defense team was that any evidence collected in violation of law would not be admitted. Shockingly, this motion failed by a vote of 22-8.
Since the standard of evidence for a Senate impeachment trial is the same as a criminal trial, all charges against Paxton would have to be proven “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt;” however, what we witnessed throughout the entire trial were mere allegations that Paxton’s team, under the presumption of guilt, were forced to prove were untrue.
As witness after witness crumbled under oath on the stand, this had to give pause to those House members who voted for the sham impeachment. It became abundantly clear to everyone witnessing this spectacle that the House Members who supported impeachment had been sold a bill of goods.
All Montgomery County Senators Vote to Dismiss
Montgomery County should be especially proud of our Senators Paul Bettencourt, Brandon Creighton, and Lois Kolkhorst. When the trial began, despite tremendous pressure, all three voted to dismiss the case against AG Paxton. Of the six votes cast for dismissal, our three senators made up 50 percent of the votes cast.
Key Witnesses’ Financial Interest
When you consider that the key witnesses in this case had agreed to a $3.3 million settlement, which was subsequently rejected by the House, it’s not hard to see why those same “whistleblowers” agreed to testify against AG Paxton in the impeachment trial. That’s right - the key witnesses against Paxton had a direct financial interest in seeing Paxton impeached. Does that sound reasonable to anyone?
Paxton Acquitted
On September 16, the Texas Senate acquitted AG Paxton on all 16 articles of impeachment. The four remaining articles were then dismissed by the Senate on a motion made by Senator Brian Birdwell (SD 22).
In his closing argument, Paxton’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, announced that the Bush era is over in Texas. While that may or may not be true, one thing is certain - it’s time for grassroots Conservatives to clean house and stop fighting a defensive battle against the RINOs.
Jon Bouché is Vice Chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party and serves on the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District Board of Directors. He is the host of Red Zone Politics and co-host of Texas Fully Loaded. He was the 2019 Republican Party Volunteer of the Year for SD 4 and served at the 2022 State Convention on the Platform Committee and as Chair of the Criminal and Civil Justice Committee.