"The impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton is the result of the failure of one-party rule and the abuse of power by the Texas GOP. Paxton should have been forced to resign long ago and face corruption charges, on his own, in a court of law." LIV Independent Survey Question 2. Go here to take LIV's full Texas independent survey.
Impeachment Blues and Reds
gets you five to two odds.
Impeachment schmeepment, to be honest, is how we really feel about the Ken Paxton impeachment trial. It's a trial of Paxton's "peers," therefore a political trial. No offense to the Texas Senate, but if the impeachment trials of Bill Clinton and Donald Trump taught us anything, it's how nutty politics gets you nutty impeachments.
That said, we're not giving up. We are holding our noses and our horses on impeachment blues and reds before a trial is supposed to begin on September 5th.
LIV is following this because, regardless of the outcome, the Paxton impeachment is exposing how one-party-ruled politics in Texas really works or more accurately, doesn't.
We wrote last week about House Bill 2127, the likely (we hope) unconstitutional gutting of Texans' local control. There is so much more we want to tell you about. Those articles are in the works, so stay tuned. (See LIV's article, "How the Texas GOP lit its hair -- and every Texan's local control -- on fire."
For now, folks, hold on to your straw hats. The filing deadline for candidates, other than Presidential, is December 11, 2023. All Texas House members and the State Senators who drew the short straws after redistricting (here) will be up for election in 2024.
Some of LIV's Favorite Impeachment News Articles
The June 20 edition of the Texas Monthly ran this article, "In the Ken Paxton Impeachment Trial, GOP Megadonors Are Free to Tamper With the Jury:"
To a great many folks inside and outside of Texas, the likelihood of ejecting the state’s highest-ranking law enforcement official—one who has been under indictment for felony securities fraud for eight years, whose philandering has yet to be contested, and whose once deeply loyal top employees have urged his removal for soliciting bribes—would seem to have pretty good odds. But that’s only if you take political campaign contributions and fear of primary challenges out of the calculus."
This June 22, Harvey Kronberg, Quorum Report article, "Senate impeachment trial rules at least suggest an air of legitimacy," subtitled, "(h)owever non-lawyer Patrick’s rulings on evidence, procedure and law are final which still leads back to suspicion and question of what outcome achieves his own best interests." If you're a political junkie, read the entire piece because Harvey is THE independent best! For now, we grab Harvey's most important point:
"Although there is not a chance in hell Patrick would consider doing so, the rules do not prohibit him appointing someone else to preside like a retired Judge, for instance."
We also really like this June 23 article in the Texas Tribune, "Despite promise of 'total transparency,' secrecy will be a big part of Ken Paxton impeachment trial." Some LIV friends -- Adrian Shelley, Executive Director of Texas Public Citizen, Bill Aleshire, intrepid open government attorney, and Texas independent, and Texas Senator Sarah Eckhardt (D-Austin) were interviewed for this story.
Attorneys and legal sleuths will enjoy this June 26 article from writer, attorney, and political independent, Bill King, "Can Paxton Be Removed For Conduct Before The Last Election?," King explains how the Senate could try to take the easy way out to end this impeachment without a trial.
LIV wishes to thank all those who are trying to get something out of this impeachment for the people of Texas, including those mentioned in this article. Our political straw hats off to you!