STATE: TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES VOTES TO IMPEACH ATTORNEY GENERAL KEN PAXTON

By Eric Bradner, Zoe Sottile and Andy Rose, CNN/StyleMagazine.com Newswire

The Texas House of Representatives has voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, an unprecedented move following a legislative probe that faulted the third-term Republican for a yearslong pattern of corruption, including abusing his office’s powers, retaliating against whistleblowers and obstructing justice.

Under state law, Paxton is now temporarily suspended from his duties as attorney general and will await a Senate trial.

The vote was 121-23, with two members voting “present.”

“The evidence is substantial. It is alarming and unnerving,” said GOP Rep. Andrew Murr, chair of the General Investigating Committee, during his closing statement following hours of debate. The committee recommended 20 counts of impeachment against Paxton.

Democrat Rep. Harold Dutton was one of the members voting present. He said the impeachment vote had been rushed. “The process by which we’re getting this done seems to be abbreviated to the point that it just encroaches on due process,” said Dutton.

Paxton denied wrongdoing in a Friday news conference, but focused his statements against the impeachment this week on his record as a key opponent of President Joe Biden. Paxton’s office has filed dozens of lawsuits against the Biden administration.

The now-suspended attorney general called the impeachment a “politically motivated sham” in a statement just minutes after the vote.

“The ugly spectacle in the Texas House today confirmed the outrageous impeachment plot against me was never meant to be fair or just,” he said.

Paxton said he was never given a chance to present evidence refuting the findings of an investigation that he abused his office. He has cast House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican who presides over a chamber where his party currently holds 85 seats to Democrats’ 64, as a “liberal.” He continued his attack on Phelan saying, “Phelan’s coalition of Democrats and liberal Republicans is now in lockstep with the Biden Administration, the abortion industry, anti-gun zealots, and woke corporations.”

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, a Democrat, said last week that the county would sue the state over the two bills, which he called “clearly unconstitutional.”

“(Our) state’s constitution bars lawmakers from passing laws that target one specific city or county, putting their personal vendettas over what’s best for Texans,” Menefee said in a statement. While Republicans have long had a stronghold on Texas, Harris County has leaned more Democratic in recent years.

Read more at StyleMagazine.com

The Office of the Attorney General issued its own “comprehensive report” about the allegations following the impeachment vote, saying it “unequivocally refutes incorrect testimony” against Paxton. The office also released a report it commissioned from an outside law firm, although the report from Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard and Smith LLP notes it is based only on information and testimony provided by the attorney general’s office.

Republican Governor Greg Abbott can appoint a provisional replacement while Paxton is temporarily suspended. Paxton would be reinstated if he is acquitted at his Senate trial.

The impeachment vote had its origins in an investigation launched in March by the General Investigating Committee of the Texas House after Paxton had asked the legislature to approve $3.3 million in government funds to settle a lawsuit with four whistleblowers who were fired from his office.

That investigation led the committee – a five-member panel investigating corruption in state government – to approve 20 articles of impeachment Thursday, setting up the vote in the full House.

Read more at StyleMagazine.com

Texas Southern University President Lesia Crumpton-Young has retired from her position just two years after joining the historically Black university in Houston.

In a May 15 letter to the chair of the TSU Board of Regents announcing her decision to leave, Crumpton-Young said she was “called to expand my commitment to transforming lives by

By Kate McGee, Texas Tribune

It’s unclear if she has secured a new position.

In a statement, TSU Board of Regents Chair Albert Myres said the board unanimously agreed to Crumpton-Young’s request to retire. TSU did not respond to additional questions Friday.

helping elevate HBCUs to a broader national stage.”

“My goal is to assist in accelerating this urgent and compelling objective and shape the national success of HBCUs and Higher Education at large. With the successful conclusion of the 2022-2023 Academic Year, it seems the most appropriate time to share this communication with you,” she wrote.