A Texas House committee that secretly investigated the state's attorney general, Ken Paxton, over recently months cited 20 accusations of bribery, retaliating against whistleblowers, obstruction of justice, and other offenses in voting to impeach Paxton and remove him from office, the Texas Tribune reports. The case, the first of its kind in the state, now moves to the full House and, if that passes, to the state Senate for a trial. State Rep. Andrew Murr, chair of the investigating committee, told House members that the impeachment resolution alleged “grave offenses,” justifying the committee’s action. Like Paxton and the rest of the state's leaders, Murr is a Republican. The committee's vote was unanimous.
Thursday’s events came one day after the committee listened to three hours of testimony detailing allegations pointing to a yearslong pattern of misconduct and questionable actions by Paxton, which included allegations by his former top deputies that Paxton used his office to benefit a friend and political donor. Many of the allegations detailed Wednesday were already known, but the public airing of them revealed the wide scope of the committee’s investigation into the state’s top lawyer. The committee investigators said Paxton may have committed at least three felonies in an effort to help a political donor with various legal troubles. Paxton, who has been reelected twice since he was indicted in 2015 on securities fraud charges, issued a statement blaming the impeachment inquiry on "corrupted politicians." The securities fraud charges are still pending. “It is a sad day in Texas as we witness the corrupt political establishment unite in an illegitimate attempt to overthrow the will of the people and disenfranchise the voters of our state,” he said.