Impeachment trial begins for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton; AP Explains

(6 Sep 2023) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Austin, Texas - 5 September 2023 1. Left to right pan as senate members arrive at impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton HEADLINE: Impeachment trial of Texas AG Ken Paxton underway 2. Mid, State Sen. Angela Paxton enters the senate gallery. POOL Austin, Texas - 5 September 2023 3. Various Ken Paxton, sits with lawyers, Tony Buzbee and Dan Cogdell ANNOTATION: The impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that could lead to his permanent removal from office is underway. ANNOTATION: The embattled Republican — entered the state Senate on Tuesday to face accusations of bribery and corruption. ASSOCIATED PRESS Austin, Texas - 5 September 2023 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Paul Weber, The Associated Press reporter: “Paxton is facing twenty articles of impeachment, most of which surround accusations of bribery and corruption stemming from his relationship with an Austin real estate developer named Nate Paul.” POOL Austin, Texas - 5 September 20235. 5. Mid, Texas Senate chambers during trial ANNOTATION: The fate of the 60-year-old Republican is in the hands of the GOP-dominated Senate. ASSOCIATED PRESS Austin, Texas - 5 September 2023 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Paul Weber, The Associated Press reporter: ”This is a political earthquake for the Republican Party in Texas, which has had control of the state for decades now. And it’s really the state Senate which is going to decide whether to convict Paxton and remove him from office or to acquit him.” 7. Mid, Public viewers arrive for the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ANNOTATION: Paxton did not stick around for the entire first day of the trial. ASSOCIATED PRESS Austin, Texas - 5 September 2023 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Paul Weber, The Associated Press reporter: “Paxton is just the third official in Texas’s nearly 200-year history to be impeached. He has called the accusations against him a “political witch hunt.” 9. Public viewers arrive for the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ANNOTATION: Paxton says he expects to be acquitted. STORYLINE: The impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton began Tuesday and hurtled Republicans into a reckoning over whether to oust a prominent member of their party after years of alleged corruption or stand with one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest defenders. The historic trial — the first impeachment proceedings in Texas in nearly a half-century — is the gravest threat to date for Paxton, who has spent nearly his entire three terms in office under felony indictment on securities fraud charges and, later, the clouds of an ongoing FBI investigation. entire three terms in office under felony indictment and, later, the clouds of an ongoing FBI investigation. In an era of bitter partisanship across the U.S., the trial is a rare instance of a political party seeking to hold one of its own to account for allegations of wrongdoing. For years in Texas, many Republicans have resisted criticizing or facing head-on the litany of legal troubles surrounding Paxton, who has remained popular among the party’s hard right by aligning himself closely to Trump and rushing his office into lawsuits that have halted priorities of the Biden administration. “None of us have ever been a part of a trial of this nature,” Republican state Sen. Phil King said while leading a prayer as the proceedings got underway. He sat at the defense table in the morning but did not return for opening statements, and it was not clear when or whether he would return. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: