Ken Paxton's impeachment case involves an alleged affair. His wife may vote on his political fate

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is accused of impeachable offenses including bribery tied to helping a woman with whom he allegedly had an affair get a job through Austin real estate investor Nate Paul.

His wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, may soon decide whether he deserves to be removed from office for that and other alleged violations of law and the public trust, which were released Thursday night by a Texas House committee.

The senator’s chief of staff did not respond to a request for comment about whether she would recuse herself.

“The first option would be for her to recuse herself,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. “The second would be for the Senate to make that judgment on whether they believe going forward with a sitting senator being a spouse of a person on trial is a look you would like to have.”

It’s unclear how the more conservative Senate would vote, even if the impeachment case were to pass the House with a majority vote.

“We will all be responsible as any juror would be, if that turns out to be, and I think the members will do their duty,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a Thursday interview with WFAA.

The bribery allegation is one of nearly two dozen articles of impeachment alleging abuse and fraud covering his eight years in office.

READ THE ARTICLES: Resolution by the House General Investigating Committee

The attorney general did not respond to a request for comment, but in a statement earlier Thursday, he criticized the investigation as unfair and accused members of the Legislature of being fake Republicans who are aligned with Democrats.

“It is a sad day for Texas as we witness the corrupt political establishment unite in this illegitimate attempt to overthrow the will of the people and disenfranchise the voters of our state,” Paxton said.

Neither Paxton nor his wife has commented about allegations of the affair, which first surfaced in a lawsuit filed against him by whistleblowers who were his top deputies before they complained to law enforcement about Paxton's conduct.

It was Paul’s help with employing the woman at his firm as well as with renovations to the Paxtons’ $1 million home in Austin’s Tarrytown that the Texas House General Investigating Committee argues in its proposed articles of impeachment were the bribes that Paxton took in exchange for legal help for Paul.

State Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, and chair of the Texas House Freedom Caucus, the most staunchly conservative members in the chamber, and others ideologically aligned pushed back against Speaker Dade Phelan on Thursday night, just minutes after physical copies of the articles were distributed to members.

“This is probably one of the most important things we’ve done since I’ve been in the Texas House,” said state Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington. “Will we be able to ask questions, according to you?”

Phelan continually deflected as they continued their line of questioning that suggested the impeachment recommendation was not based on enough evidence and that the process would not afford members who disagreed with meaningful input.

Five of the articles deal with ways that Paxton disregarded his official duty to help Paul, including by intervening in a civil suit against Paul, issuing legal opinions favorable to him and using office resources to counter-investigate the federal authorities and Paul’s business adversaries.

The FBI had been looking into Paul’s business dealings, and Paul had insisted they acted improperly in their investigation of him and violated his civil rights. He’s argued as much in an ongoing lawsuit.

The committee also recommended articles pertaining to Paxton’s nearly eight-year old felony securities fraud case. They allege in two articles that Paxton abused the judicial process by “causing protracted delay of the trial, which deprived the electorate of its opportunity to make an informed decision when voting for attorney general,” they state.

The committee alleges Paxton made false statements to the state securities board related to the underlying allegation in his criminal case, and that he made false or misleading statements in financial disclosure forms.

Paxton in 2021 issued a report from his own office clearing himself of the allegations the whistleblowers had made against him. The committee found that Paxton made false or misleading statements in that report.

The final four articles applied more generally and included: conspiracy and attempted conspiracy, misappropriation of public resources, dereliction of duty, unfitness for office, abuse of trust.