How a $3.3M settlement against Texas AG Ken Paxton put him on path to impeachment vote

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Kevin M. Kruse Retweeted

NEW: Many of the most salacious allegations involving Ken Paxton have been widely known and reported.
What sparked this week’s impeachment effort?
It was all about the money — $3.3 million.

statesman.com
How a $3.3 million settlement against Texas AG Ken Paxton put him on path to impeachment
Many of the 20 articles of impeachment closely mirror the widely reported allegations the whistleblowers made in 2020.

Link to tweet

STATE

How a $3.3M settlement against Texas AG Ken Paxton put him on path to impeachment vote

Tony Plohetski
Austin American-Statesman
Published 8:07 a.m. CT May 27, 2023 | Updated 4:33 p.m. CT May 27, 2023

When the American-Statesman broke the news in October 2020 about damning allegations by members of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s top staff that they reported to the FBI, most Texas Republicans remained reserved in their response. ... Weeks later, when a whistleblower lawsuit brought by four plaintiffs revealed more specifics – including accusations that Paxton used his position to help a wealthy donor and possibly received a home remodel in exchange – GOP leaders were largely mum. ... The same thing happened when The Associated Press reported in November 2020 that Paxton had arranged for the donor, Nate Paul, to employ his mistress. The reaction by his party remained largely muted.

What finally sparked the bipartisan push to impeach Paxton this week – three years after his alleged misdeeds had been widely reported? It was the money. ... A statement from House Speaker Dade Phelan’s spokeswoman and a letter obtained Friday by the Statesman indicate that Paxton asking taxpayers to pay a $3.3 million settlement to the whistleblowers triggered a secret inquiry by a House investigations committee that set the impeachment effort in motion.

“This process was initiated as a result of the attorney general’s request for $3.3 million in state funds in order to settle with whistleblowers,” spokeswoman Cait Wittman said. “The attorney general made this demand of the Legislature without providing sufficient information or evidence in support of his request.”

The memo from the House Committee on General Investigating to 150 House members made the connection even more explicitly. ... “We cannot overemphasize the fact that, but for Paxton’s own request for taxpayer-funded settlement over his wrongful conduct, Paxton would not be facing impeachment in the House,” it stated.

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[Tetrachloride]

1. So, the wrongful conduct wasn't the problem. just the money

and the billionaires didn’t want to pay, much less the lobbyists or the holy rollers

[tanyev]

2. I want to know more about the tweet that accused the House Speaker of presiding drunk.

In hindsight, it was obviously an attempt by Paxton to take out Speaker Phelan before the results of the investigation came out. It was tweeted out by a couple accounts that seem to be well connected in ultra conservative circles, it was retweeted by the Collin County GOP (Paxton's home county), followed immediately by a statement from Paxton calling for the speaker's resignation.

I went back and watched the video closely. Nobody in the room seemed to react to anything unusual and I don't recall any other prominent state Republicans calling for Phelan to step down. Furthermore, there's a weird glitchy thing in the video in the lower half of Phelan's face at about 19 seconds. Makes me go hmmm.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217934190

[TeamProg]

3. Of course! They are all bastards! nt

[dalton99a]

4. $3.3M is spare change in the Texas budget

It is a power struggle among Republicans.

Paxton wouldn't take no for an answer. Furthermore, he publicly and severely insulted the House Speaker. He had to go.

[walkingman]

5. Exactly.

[Scruffy1]

6. My take on it is a little different.

I actually live streamed the hearing while I was giving my #1 elderly guitars a good going over.. One thing you have to look at is that the Texas legislature only gets paid $7200 per year and only meets for 140 days every other year. They get a per diem when in session. It" not a glamorous job and you don't get a lot of press coverage. The sessions are always crowded for time and the agenda is packed. If your in Congress you get paid well and MAGA rants get covered by the media. Transportation, public school funding, tax policy, and a whole lot of other things crowded into a short time period. The ones speaking against the impeachment merely talked about process and I had the feeling they were just going by rote to please their local magats. I suspect that most of them have been waiting a long time to
stick the knife into this clown of a show pony and the 3,3 million settlement by itself was enough to impeach him, but they had receipts for a whole lot more. Much as I loathe the Republicans in general, I'm going to give them credit for doing the right thing. I don't think there will be trial because of the time element and the R's just want to put the shit show behind them. The magat act is getting old. Besides he's looking at indictments now. Meanwhile I'm wondering if the Texas investigators can produce the evidence in a short time frame why the feds have sat on their thumbs for so long. To me it's seeing the Maga wall starting to crumble. Of course I live in El Paso so I don't know about the rest of the state, but I have a feeling that the wave has crested for the hate and bigotry of the far right.