House committee recommends impeachment of Paxton: 'Everything about the attorney general is impropriety'

Texas Attorney General (TXAG) Ken Paxton is facing 20 articles of impeachment after a Texas House of Representatives committee filed them on Thursday.

Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported that the House Committee on General Investigating unanimously recommended impeachment for Paxton, a Republican.

“Everything about the attorney general is impropriety,” State Rep. Terry Canales (D-Edinburg) said, KXAN reported. “And moving forward, the state of Texas deserves better. He should have resigned years ago.”

According to the station, the committee met with attorneys who looked into claims of misconduct against the state’s lead legal counsel.

KXAN reported that Paxton, who’s in his third term, drew the attention of investigators in March after a proposal to use state money to cover a $3.3 million settlement in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by four ex-Office of the Attorney General (OAG) employees.

The station reported that the investigators deduced Paxton could face at least 12 criminal charges based on the evidence they obtained.

The lower chamber of the Texas Legislature, which is nearing the slated conclusion of its current session, is expected to vote on the articles of impeachment by Saturday.

“After a period of time for your review and reflection, I intend to call up the resolution adopting the articles of impeachment,” committee chair State Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Junction) said to House legislators, The Texas Tribune reported. “If you have any questions at all, please come visit with me or any other member of our committee.”

Should the House approve the articles, the Texas Senate will be tasked with serving as the jury in the proceedings.

Per KXAN, Paxton said in a statement the investigation deprived an “opportunity for rebuttal or due process.”

“They even refused to allow a senior attorney from my office to provide the facts,” he said. “They rejected every attempt to seek a full accounting of the truth.”

Paxton proceeded to accuse several politicians, including House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont), of corruption and promoting the liberal agenda.

The attorney general demanded Phelan resign on Tuesday over alleged drunken behavior on the House floor, to which the speaker’s defenders countered was merely exhaustion.