Texas AG Seeks Dismissal Of All Impeachment Articles

The Texas Tribune reports:

Attorneys for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a flurry of motions over the weekend that seek to dismiss additional articles of impeachment, arguing that the allegations are baseless or fall under the legitimate duties of the attorney general’s office.

Paxton’s team also downplayed the severity of the accusations against him — including those surrounding his firing of whistleblowers from his office who reported him to law enforcement for alleged bribery — and argued that many of the claims are without merit or do not rise to the level of impeachable offenses.

Last week, Paxton’s team filed two motions to dismiss 19 of the 20 articles of impeachment, arguing that all but one — Article 8 — ran afoul of the “prior-term doctrine,” which they said bars officials from being impeached for conduct that predates their most recent election. They argued that almost all of the allegations outlined by House investigators were known to voters when they reelected him to his third six-year term in 2022.

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Attorneys for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a flurry of motions over the weekend that seek to dismiss all articles of impeachment. If successful, Paxton’s September impeachment trial would be over before it truly begins. https://t.co/UrvJsVzF5n

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) August 7, 2023