Attorney General Ken Paxton thanked his supporters on Saturday after the Senate voted to acquit him on all articles of impeachment pursued by the House.
“Today, the truth prevailed,” Paxton claimed. “The truth could not be buried by mudslinging politicians or their powerful benefactors.”
“I’ve said many times: Seek the truth! And that is what was accomplished,” the attorney general continued. “I thank the 4.2 million Texans who voted for me last year. … I’m also grateful for the state senators who followed the law and refused to overturn an election.”
Paxton went on to denounce his impeachment, likening the proceedings to a “kangaroo court” organized by the Biden administration and Speaker of the House Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont).
“[It] has cost taxpayers millions of dollars. The weaponization of the impeachment process to settle political differences is not only wrong, it is immoral and corrupt,” Paxton said.
After announcing that Paxton was acquitted on all charges and reinstated to office, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blasted the House and the case the lower chamber brought to the Senate.
“It feels important to set the full record straight on this trial,” he said. “The Speaker and his team rammed through the first impeachment of a statewide-elected official in Texas in over 100 years while paying no attention to the precedent.”
Pointing to a speech given in the House by Rep. John Smithee (R-Amarillo), Patrick noted how the House was allegedly forced to vote on impeachment with limited verifiable information. “The House process was indefensible and … their case was based on triple hearsay that would never be allowed in court,” he said.
Patrick called for constitutional reforms to the laws that govern impeachment.
“We owe it to future legislatures to make these changes so that no future official impeached by the House, whether Republican, Democrat, or independent, is subjected to the way this impeachment process occurred. … Millions of taxpayers dollars have been wasted on this impeachment. I will call for a full audit,” he said.
Speaker Phelan quickly issued a statement slamming the Senate for deciding that the House failed to prove the articles beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Over the last two weeks, the Texas House Board of Managers provided the Texas Senate and the people of Texas extensive evidence of Ken Paxton’s corruption, deception and self-dealing,” he claimed. “It is extremely unfortunate that after hearing and evaluating this evidence, the Texas Senate chose not to remove him from office.”
“Moreover, I find it deeply concerning that after weeks of claiming he would preside over this trial in an impartial and honest manner, Lt. Governor Patrick would conclude by confessing his bias and placing his contempt for the people’s House on full display,” the speaker said.
“To be clear, Patrick attacked the House for standing up against corruption. His tirade disrespects the Constitutional impeachment process afforded to us by the founders of this great state,” he alleged. “The inescapable conclusion is that today’s outcome appears to have been orchestrated from the start.”
Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been silent on the impeachment from the start, said, “Attorney General Ken Paxton received a fair trial as required by the Texas Constitution.”
“I look forward to continuing to work with him to secure the border and protect Texas from federal overreach,” he concluded.