Texas House impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton on 20 articles in May 2023; the Texas Senate acquitted him on all voted articles in September 2023
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On May 27, 2023 the Texas House adopted H.R. 2377, impeaching Attorney General Ken Paxton on 20 articles; the House vote is reported as 121 to 23, and he was suspended from office. The articles allege, among other things, disregard of official duty to benefit Austin real estate investor Nate Paul, constitutional bribery, termination of whistleblowers, obstruction of justice and false statements in official records, including on his financial disclosures. After a Senate trial, on Sept 16, 2023 the Senate voted on 16 articles and did not reach the 21 votes (two-thirds) needed to convict on any of them; four other articles were dismissed without a vote, and Paxton returned to office. Paxton did not attend most of the trial. His lawyer Tony Buzbee called the proceedings "a political witch hunt," and defense attorney Dan Cogdell said after the verdict, "It was a joke for us to have to go through this. This should have never happened." The impeachment resulted in no conviction or removal from office.
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