Joe Biden's sworn enemy, Texas attorney general faces impeachment after trial

Texas representatives voted overwhelmingly Saturday to impeach Ken Paxton, the influential attorney general of this southern state and Joe Biden's great enemy in the courts, suspending him from office until his trial in the Texas Senate. At the end of debates that took place throughout the afternoon, the elected representatives voted by 121 votes for his dismissal, 23 against and 2 abstentions. "The evidence is substantial. They are alarming and disconcerting," said Republican Congressman Andrew Murr.

Despite the massively unfavorable vote against him, Ken Paxton did not relent: "What we have just witnessed is illegal, unethical and deeply unfair," he tweeted after the vote. The date of his trial in the Texas Senate was not immediately known. Two-thirds of its members will have to agree to remove him. But this 60-year-old ultraconservative, close to former President Donald Trump, divides in his own camp, which makes the outcome of the next vote uncertain.

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A parliamentary commission of inquiry had unanimously adopted Thursday twenty charges against the "attorney general" - equivalent to the attorney general of Texas - for corruption, misuse of public funds, false statements or obstruction of justice.

The indictment chronicles Ken Paxton's pressure on his teams to protect a friend and donor from prosecution. In exchange, the latter gave a job to a mistress of the Republican and financed work in his house, details the document.

Elected in 2014 to head the Texas judicial system, he has since been charged with financial fraud, which remains pending. That didn't stop him from being re-elected in 2018 and again in 2022. In this position, he filed 50 complaints against the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden, challenging among other things its immigration, fiscal or environmental policies.

In 2020, members of his team warned about his abuse of power. After being fired, these "whistleblowers" filed a complaint for unfair dismissal. Earlier this year, Ken Paxton reached an agreement to end their lawsuit in exchange for $3.3 million. He asked Texas to foot the bill. This is what justified the opening of a parliamentary inquiry and could precipitate its downfall.