(C) Texas Tribune This story was originally published by Texas Tribune and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Blast - April 24, 2025 [1] ['The Texas Tribune'] Date: 2025-04 22 days for the House to pass legislation that originated in the House 39 days until sine die CORNYN ATTACKS PAXTON OVER IMPEACHMENT, AGAIN U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has stirred up supporters of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after Cornyn said his primary challenger invoked the Fifth Amendment during his impeachment trial. Cornyn made the assertion this morning after already riling Paxton loyalists with his appearance on the Mark Davis Show yesterday, where the two discussed the attorney general’s impeachment. “I have no bone to pick with the House or the Senate: both were doing their constitutionally-required job,” Cornyn posted this morning. “My disagreement is with an Attorney General who takes the 5th Amendment (right against self incrimination) at the impeachment trial and then admits at a later Whistleblower trial that everything the House Impeachment articles charged was true, costing taxpayers $6.6 million!” Paxton never actually pleaded the Fifth — in fact, he never took the stand. Conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan claimed “the House specifically didn’t ALLOW Ken Paxton to testify.” However, the reason he never took the stand is mostly because Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presided over the trial, ruled before the proceedings that the House impeachment managers “may not call the attorney general as a witness.” Ahead of the trial, Paxton’s defense team filed a motion requesting that Patrick issue a ruling shielding Paxton from the impeachment managers’ questions, and the impeachment managers tried to stop Paxton’s request. Although Patrick didn’t go as far as to agree with Paxton’s team that the impeachment trial is a criminal trial, he pointed out that the impeachment managers had likened the House to a grand jury, and Paxton was expected to plead guilty or not guilty, all components of criminal proceedings, paving the way for Paxton to not have to testify. You can find Patrick’s ruling buried at the bottom of page 49 of the journal from Day 1 of the impeachment trial. Moreover, Paxton has successfully fought every attempt to answer under oath in every investigation against him since 2020. “I think there was more than just smoke there, to be sure,” Cornyn said on the Mark Davis Show. “I don’t have any disagreement with those 60 or 61 Republicans who voted in favor of impeachment.” In a social media post, Paxton accused Cornyn of supporting “lawfare.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://thetexastribune.beehiiv.com/p/the-blast-april-24-2025-cde23a162ce6eb61 Published and (C) by Texas Tribune Content appears here under this condition or license: Used with Permission: https://www.texastribune.org/republishing-guidelines/. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/texastribune/