By Paul J. Weber and Juan A. Lozano

Newly acquitted of impeachment charges, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is back on the job and getting back to the usual.

Promises to keep dragging the Biden administration into court. Support from former President Donald Trump. And coming soon, a sit-down with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

As Paxton on Sunday begins his first full day back in office after winning acquittal in the Texas Senate over accusations of corruption and bribery, the Republican is quickly resuming what has long helped make him one of the most resilient political figures in the U.S. despite years of criminal charges and alleged scandal.

At the same time, the verdict is inflaming rifts within the GOP surrounding his impeachment in the first place.

The fallout in the Texas Capitol is likely only beginning and threatens to spill into the 2024 elections, when conservative allies of the Trump-backed attorney general say they will target Republican legislators who led the investigation against Paxton.

Even the very act of impeachment in Texas could get a second look after Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presided over the trial, called for new guardrails in a fiery speech questioning how the case made it this far.

On the other side are Republicans in the Texas House, where Paxton was overwhelmingly impeached and suspended from office in May. Its members bristled at Saturday's verdict and the criticism leveled by the lieutenant governor.

“The inescapable conclusion is that today's outcome appears to have been orchestrated from the start, cheating the people of Texas of justice,” Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan said.

Paxton, 60, was absent for most of the trial and was not in the Senate for his acquittal on 16 articles of impeachment. He issued a statement blasting his impeachment as the work of a “kangaroo court” and promoted an interview he plans to give this week with Carlson.

“I've said many times: Seek the truth! And that is what was accomplished,” Paxton said.

The trial was a showcase of sober testimony and occasional spectacle. In accusing Paxton of abusing his office, former advisers recounted how Texas' top lawyer allegedly pressured them to help a political donor who was under FBI investigation. The testimony included arguments over who paid for home renovations, whether Paxton used burner phones and how his alleged extramarital affair became a strain on the office.

Paxton denied wrongdoing and his attorneys argued there either was no evidence or wasn’t enough to rise beyond a reasonable doubt. They portrayed Paxton as the victim of a plot orchestrated by Republican rivals and waved to political conspiracies involving George P. Bush, the nephew of former President George W. Bush, who unsuccessfully challenged Paxton in last year's GOP primary.

Paxton was endorsed in that race by Trump, who reaffirmed his support in the waning days of the trial and applauded the verdict. “The Ken Paxton Victory is sooo BIG. WOW!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social, his social media platform.

More than three months after the overwhelming impeachment in the Texas House, where Republicans have a solid majority, Paxton was just as convincingly acquitted by Senate Republicans who serve alongside his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton.

Angela Paxton was not allowed a vote in the trial. But she attended all two weeks of the proceedings, including one dramatic moment when a woman was called to publicly testify about an affair she had with the state senator's husband.

The woman ultimately never took the witness stand, but her relationship with Ken Paxton was central to a case accusing him of going to potentially criminal lengths to help a local real estate developer named Nate Paul, who was under FBI investigation at the time.

Democratic state Sen. Nathan Johnson described nearly eight hours of deliberations among the 30 senators as a hard and seemingly sincere process.

“And then it collapsed,” he said.

Johnson said it eventually became clear there would not be enough votes to convict, which may have led some senators to change their minds.

“When enough people fall away from conviction, it exposes any remaining Republican to very strong attack from the right,” Johnson said. “We reached the wrong result and it was the result of political pressures.”

The outcome is not the end of Paxton’s troubles. He still faces trial on felony securities fraud charges, remains under a separate FBI investigation and is in jeopardy of losing his ability to practice law in Texas because of his baseless attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Eight of Paxton’s former deputies reported him to the FBI in 2020 over his relationship with real estate developer Paul, setting off a federal investigation that is ongoing. Federal prosecutors investigating Paxton took testimony in August before a grand jury in San Antonio, according to two people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of secrecy rules around the proceeding.

Paul was indicted in June on charges of making false statements to banks. He has pleaded not guilty.

Dan Cogdell, one of Paxton’s attorneys, said the securities fraud charges the attorney general still faces should be dismissed.

“If they don’t dismiss them, we’ll try them and beat them there just like we beat them here,” he said.

Associated Press writer Jake Bleiberg in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

Share:
More In Politics
Rep. Ami Bera on Approaching Putin Like a 'Poker Player' Over Ukraine
As the Biden administration continues to see the potential for an imminent invasion of Ukraine after contradictory reports of a Russian troop pullback or buildup, Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif. 7th District), a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, joined Cheddar News to give his insight into the tense situation. "When I was in Ukraine a couple of weeks ago and we were talking with the Ukrainian leadership with President Zelensky, they said we ought to approach Vladimir Putin as though he was a poker player," he said. "So this could be one of those head fakes where he's saying one thing and doing another thing."
White House: Carbon Capture Key To Fighting Climate Change
The Biden Administration has now issued new guidelines when it comes to carbon capture. The new guidelines handed down this week encouraged the widespread use of climate attacks that traps and stores carbon emissions. The goal here is the process would help keep carbon out of the atmosphere without requiring a whole lot of change by big companies and manufacturing plants. Several scientists say that this method would be crucial to help us decrease the use of carbon emissions by the year 2050. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, Mark Jacobson, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
President Biden to Launch 'Buy Clean' Task Force
The Biden administration is launching a new task force to promote the use of 'cleaner' construction materials with lower life cycle emissions. This comes as the White House works to speed up government purchases of greener products. Sweta Chakraborty, climate change expert and U.S. president of "We Don't Have Time," joins Cheddar News to discuss.
National Guard Deployed as Substitute Teachers In New Mexico Schools
Due to the staffing shortages of teachers in New Mexico, the state has been encouraging its National Guard members to fill in as licensed substitutes to keep schools open. Kurt Steinhaus, New Mexico secretary of education, joined Cheddar News to explain the state's stopgap measure amid its lack of teaching professionals. "The first thing they have to go through a fingerprint background check, just like any other substitute new Mexico. The second thing they have to do is go through some online training, and then we provided some in-person professional development about classroom management," Steinhaus explained about the qualifications process.
Russian Troop Movements, Expulsion of U.S. Diplomat Rachets Up Ukraine Tension
With contradictory reports about Russian troops pulling back or being added to the border with Ukraine and the expulsion of a U.S. diplomat from Russia, tensions in the region appear to be escalating. Jack Detsch, a Pentagon and national security reporter for Foreign Policy, joined Cheddar News to break down the situation. "Certainly a different tone out of Moscow today and a different tone out of the West. Even as the Kremlin has made the case that troops are moving back, the U.S. is saying that is certainly not the case with the satellite imagery that we have pouring in," he said.
High Stakes and Rising Tensions In Ukraine
Tensions in Ukraine continue to rise. According to NATO and U.S. officials, Russian troops are still being built up despite Moscow's claims of de-escalation. However, Ukraine does not believe the troops are enough to mount an invasion. The government in Kyiv has also reported several cyber attacks against its defense agencies and banks which is the largest attack in the country's history. Foreign Affairs Reporter based in Ukrain, Terrell Starr, joined Cheddar to discuss more
Load More