Voting Resources
Texas AG Ken Paxton Acquitted!
Congratulations to General Ken Paxton for not surrendering! After two weeks of relentless negative media noise that conservative Texans endured during the Impeachment trial, the Texas Senate proved that that’s exactly what it was, noise. The testimony by witnesses for the prosecution gave the defense fodder to prove that there was no evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to convict Attorney General Paxton.
The 30 Texas Senators, 12 Democrats and 18 Republicans minus Senator Angela Paxton who was not allowed to vote, were ready to vote on Saturday, September 16 at 11:10am. They voted on 16 Articles of impeachment one by one. Articles 11, 12, 13, and 14 had been held in abeyance. These were voted in a block after the voting of the 16 had concluded. A motion to dismiss with prejudice passed 19 to 11.
The initial six Senators that voted to dismiss in pretrial were Paul Bettencourt of Houston, Donna Campbell of New Braunfels, Brandon Creighton of Conroe, Bob Hall of Edgewood, Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham and Tan Parker of Flower Mound. Each voted to acquit Paxton in all 16 articles. So too did the Senators that voted to dismiss in at least one motion to dismiss in pretrial. All five voted to acquit, these were Brian Birdwell of Granbury, Bryan Hughes of Mineola, Charles Perry of Lubbock, Charles Schwertner of Georgetown and Kevin Sparks of Midland.
The Republican Senators that voted against dismissal in pretrial were: Pete Flores of Pleasanton, Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills, Joan Huffman of Houston, Mayes Middleton of Galveston, Robert Nichols of Jacksonville, Phil King of Weatherford and Drew Springer of Muenster. Nevertheless, they each voted to acquit except for two who voted with the Democrats, Hancock and Nichols.
Voting on all Articles was far short of the 21 required to convict and surprisingly far more than the ten needed to acquit.
ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT
https://senate.texas.gov/_assets/coi/docs/Articles-of-Impeachment.pdf
Articles 1 thru 3; 6, 7 and 10 and 15 thru 20 each had a vote of 14 yes and 16 nays. The two Republicans voting yes with the Democrats were Hancock and Nichols. Articles 4, was soundly defeated 2 yes and 28 nays, it read in part, “Specifically, Paxton improperly, obtained access to information held by his office that had not been publicly disclosed for the purpose of providing the information to the benefit of Nate Paul.”
Article 8, was rejected by a vote of 8 yes and 22 nays. It read in part, “Specifically, Paxton entered into a settlement agreement with the whistleblowers that provide for payment of the settlement from public funds. The settlement agreement stayed the wrongful termination suit and conspicuously delayed the discovery of facts and testimony at trial, to Paxton’s advantage, which deprived the electorate of its opportunity to make an informed decision when voting for Attorney General.
Article 5, was defeated with 13 yes and 17 nays one Republican, Hancock, went with the Democrats. The only vote that went on party lines was Article 9, 12 yes and 18 nays. All Republican Senators believed that General Paxton did not benefit from Nate Paul’s employment of a woman with whom Paxton was having an extramarital affair and that Paul did not receive favorable legal assistance from, or special access to the office of the Attorney General.
The icing on the acquittal cake was the displeasure and disdain Lt Governor Dan Patrick displayed at the end of the trial. He particularly singled out Dade Phelan with good reason. It was the best news since the beginning of the House Impeachment in May to every Texas Patriot! Part of Patrick’s statement was, “We must stop the impeachment process from being weaponized. I will not let the Texas House off the hook for their unprecedented misuse of the process, and their rush to judgement based upon hearsay. The House voted without a fair and credible process and that should never happen again.” Patrick’s speech on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOZuJml8nUE
The Lt Governor announced that he will ask for a full audit of all taxpayer money spent in the House from the beginning of the investigation in March to the final bill they get from their lawyers. He also explicitly mentioned Representative John T. Smithee’s speech before the House of Representatives. Smithee emphasized the Rule of Law and the Integrity of the House of Representatives. Every house member should have been listening and heeded his warning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lC8o-kbG1Q
Statement of Attorney General Ken Paxton
Today, the truth prevailed. The truth could not be buried by mudslinging politicians or their powerful benefactors. I’ve said many times: Seek the truth! And that is what was accomplished.
I thank the 4.2 million Texans who voted for me last year. I will always be grateful for your support, and I will continue to honor your vote by defending the rule of law and our constitutional rights. I’m also grateful for the state senators who followed the law and refused to overturn an election. I also thank my legal team for exposing the absurdity of these false allegations.
Most importantly, I want to thank my amazing wife Angela, who I love dearly. She is a brave woman of deep faith, unquestionable integrity, and the light of our entire family.
The sham impeachment coordinated by the Biden Administration with liberal House Speaker Dade Phelan and his kangaroo court has cost taxpayers millions of dollars, disrupted the work of the Office of Attorney General and left a dark and permanent stain on the Texas House.
The weaponization of the impeachment process to settle political differences is not only wrong, it is immoral and corrupt.
Now that this shameful process is over, my work to defend our constitutional rights will resume.
Thank you to everyone who has stood with us during this time.
Finally, I can promise the Biden Administration the following: buckle up because your lawless policies will not go unchallenged. We will not allow you to shred the constitution and infringe on the rights of Texans. You will be held accountable.
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Many of General Paxton’s supporters that were supportive from the beginning were: the Republican Party of Texas, former president Donald Trump who included in his statement, “Congratulations to Attorney General Ken Paxton on a great and historic Texas sized VICTORY.” U.S. Senator Ted Cruz also sent his congrats, “This was the right outcome, consistent with the will of the voters.”
The Senators were given 72 hours to submit their statement of the impeachment making them part of the historic record. SD25 Senator Donna Campbell in her statement included, “This was a historical event and I’m glad the right of innocent until proven guilty prevailed.”
It’s important that we clear some of the misinformation that is/was circulating about the trial. According to Lt Governor Patrick the law required the Senate to receive the Articles of Impeachment and hold the trial. Laura Olsen did not give testimony because both sides agreed that she was not to be called as a witness. It could have also been that she was going to invoke her 5th amendment right. And lastly, that those that were interviewed by the House Investigation committee were committing perjury. They were not under oath at that time and therefore were not subject to perjury. Obviously it was all hearsay. When they were called to testify under oath they had to tell the truth. The truth prevailed and justice was served. General Paxton returns to work and resumes the duties of the Texas Attorney General.
IF Texas Speaker of the House Dade Phelan were an honorable man he would resign.
