Abbott: 'John Scott has the background and experience needed to step in as a short-term interim attorney general'

Gov. Greg Abbott appointed a former Texas secretary of state (SOS) as the interim Texas attorney general (TXAG) on Wednesday, per a press release issued by the Office of the Texas Governor. 

North Texan John B. Scott takes over the suspended Ken Paxton just about six months after he stepped down as the state’s elections chief.

“John Scott has the background and experience needed to step in as a short-term interim attorney general during the time the attorney general has been suspended from duty,” Abbott, a Republican, said in the release. “He served under me in the Texas Attorney General’s Office and knows how the Office of the Attorney General operates."

Abbott himself was attorney general from 2002 to 2015, the successor to now-U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

“Scott was the deputy attorney general for civil litigation and has handled cases at all levels of the justice system,” the governor continued. “His decades of experience and expertise in litigation will help guide him while serving as the state’s top law enforcement officer.”

Paxton, a Republican who was thrice elected as the Lone Star State’s head legal counsel, has been impeached in response to what a Texas House of Representatives panel asserted last month was years’ worth of abuse of power, retaliation and bribery, Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported. 

The House voted 121-23 on Saturday to impeach Paxton, as well as direct the Texas Senate to put him to trial.

Per a report from Austin Journal, as SOS, Scott oversaw four statewide elections, including last November’s contest that witnessed his former boss secure reelection for the third time since 2014.

Scott’s administration also conducted a forensic audit of Texas’ 2020 election results, having told the governor in his resignation letter that being the state’s elections head is no small feat.

Ex-state Sen. Jane Nelson, who also hails from North Texas, succeeded Scott.