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The Blast: What’s next in the Paxton investigation? [1]

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Date: 2023-05 

DISSECTING THE INVESTIGATION

The biggest questions emerging out of the House General Investigating Committee’s hearing on Attorney General Ken Paxton aren’t around new nuggets in the Paxton saga. Instead, the pressing questions surround the process and decision-making behind the investigation.



Such a public display is rare for the tight-lipped committee, which has kept rumors of the Paxton investigation under wraps until mere hours before Wednesday’s public hearing.



Yet the decision to take today’s invited testimony to the public stage was a deliberate choice and a deviation from recent practice.



We already know what prompted the investigation: Paxton’s $3.3 million settlement with agency whistleblowers and his request that the state foot the bill.



Republicans have largely steered clear of commenting on Paxton’s scandals, but the settlement has forced lawmakers to go on the record about Paxton’s legal woes. In February, House Speaker Dade Phelan was the first to question spotting Paxton the cash.



“Speaker Phelan has maintained that it would be irresponsible for the Legislature to appropriate this extraordinary amount of taxpayer dollars without first conducting a full and thorough investigation into the matter,” Phelan communications director Cait Wittman said in a statement this afternoon.



But why jump from that to a sweeping, now public, investigation? Cynically, it’s a chance for Phelan to eliminate a political thorn. But here’s Phelan’s justification:



“What the committee discovered — the details of which were outlined in a public hearing today — was extremely disturbing. The Attorney General appears to have routinely abused his powers for personal gain and exhibited blatant disregard for the ethical and legal propriety expected of the state’s leading law enforcement officer,” Wittman said, adding that Phelan backs whatever recommendation the committee may file.



That brings us to the other question that’s on everybody’s mind : if and when the panel will recommend impeachment or perhaps another punishment like a censure. Paxton certainly thinks impeachment could be coming.



“It is not surprising that a committee appointed by liberal Speaker Dade Phelan would seek to disenfranchise Texas voters and sabotage my work as Attorney General,” Paxton said in a statement posted to social media minutes after the committee finished hearing from its witnesses.



As for the when, sine die coming Monday complicates the timeline, but in no way is it a roadblock if the committee doesn’t produce a report by then.



The General Investigating Committee has the power to meet whenever it wants. And after that, the House has powers to call itself back to Austin for impeachment proceedings. That threshold is only a majority of all House members or the House speaker plus 50 members.



Here’s another tidbit. When the House impeaches an officer, that officer is suspended until the matter is resolved. That means Paxton would be out of a job until the Senate puts him on trial, and Abbott would get to choose a stand-in.



And here’s one more thing: Paxton’s wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, may want to note from Chapter 665, the section of the Government Code on impeachment and removal:



“Each member of the senate shall be in attendance when the senate is meeting as a court of impeachment.”

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