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Rogers votes for impeachment of Paxton

Trial to be held in Senate

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State Rep. Glenn Rogers, whose district includes Parker County, was among 121 members of the Texas House of Representatives who voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday, May 27.

The overall vote was 121-23, with majorities of both Republicans and Democrats voting for the motion.

Under Texas law, Paxton is suspended from office pending the outcome of a trial on that will be held in the Texas Senate on charges of bribery, abuse of office, and obstruction. In all there were 20 articles of impeachment.

The Texas House Committee on Investigating began the investigation that led to the charges in February, after Paxton requested the state pay a $3.3 million lawsuit judgement against him for wrongful termination of whistleblowers in his office. Paxton has also been under ongoing investigation by law enforcement on bribery allegations.

“It was obvious that there was enough evidence regarding concerns about misuse of office and abuse of power that we had to take that into consideration,” Rogers said. “There were 20 Articles of Impeachment that were brought forth. So it was not just a single, isolated article.”

Rogers stressed that the investigation of Paxton might not have occurred had Paxton not attempted to utilize taxpayer money to settle his lawsuit.

In the case of impeachment, the Texas House acts more or less as a grand jury, determining whether there is enough evidence to have a trial. The Senate acts as jury in the matter.

Rogers also stressed that the impeachment vote is not a determination of guilt.

“The verdict rests with the Senate,” Rogers said. “All that we've done is look at facts. And with those facts presented to us, a very large margin … something like over 70% of Republicans voted in support of this measure. And when I talked to many of the Republicans that did not vote for impeachment, the vast majority, I think, it was related to the process, not whether they thought there was sufficient evidence to move it forward to trial. I think they felt like the process just needed some more time.”

During the proceedings on Saturday, Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth) criticized Paxton for calling representatives on the House floor to “personally threaten them with political consequences in the next election” if they voted for impeachment.

Rogers said he received no such threat, but knows of at least one colleague who did. Rogers said the colleague shared a recording of Paxton’s threat with him.

“I think there is some concern that would be considered witness tampering,” Rogers said. “I want to emphasize that this is a very difficult thing for all the House colleagues. It's not something that we wanted to see happen. As a Republican, as a conservative Texan, I really applaud what the attorney general has done to help help our cause in Washington to push back against some probably unconstitutional federal mandates and push back against some of the policies of the Biden administration, and I applaud him for that. But the bottom line is no one is above the law.”

Rogers said it has also been a tough week for his staff, as they have had to field what Rogers termed as “threatening” and “vulgar” messages. “I can certainly understand the disappointment. I'm disappointed that this is happening as well. But in the end, we have to do what's right. I wasn't expedient, certainly politically. The easiest thing for me would have been not to vote for impeachment, as far as dealing with him, as far as dealing with some elements of the Republican Party, but but the right thing to do was [to impeach], and I stand by that.”

Rogers said he thought most of those messages originated outside his district.

Ken Paxton, Texas News, State Rep. Glenn Rogers, Texas House of Representatives, impeachment

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