Rep. Andy Murr, who represents Kerr County, led Thursday’s charge to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In what is an earthquake in Texas politics, Paxton faced a unanimous impeachment call from Murr and the General Investigating Committee, which Murr chairs. The resolution moves to the Legislature and then onto the Texas Senate for trial.
The move comes after the committee spent more than four hours on Wednesday hearing testimony from investigators about alleged illegality conducted by Paxton, who is already under a longstanding indictment for securities fraud.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Murr asked more than 140 questions about Paxton’s behavior and actions as Attorney General — many of those questions related to Paxton’s dealings with an Austin-based real estate developer Nate Paul. Paxton is accused of doing Paul favors, and in turn, Paul helps Paxton remodel his home and hires his alleged mistress.
At times during the hearing, Murr expressed his disbelief in Paxton’s actions.
“And I’m not trying to put·words in your mouth, but what your investigation of allegations by whistleblowers tells us is that the Attorney General himself chose to hire an attorney with five years experience based on the recommendation of Nate Paul’s attorney, give that attorney some job title·that doesn’t even exist with Office of the Attorney General, and somehow give him the authority to issue subpoenas to go after business interests for an individual and law enforcement that is investigating that individual,” Murr asked.
Paxton easily won re-election last year — even with the specter of multiple investigations hanging over him. In Kerr County, Paxton was the top vote-getter in the 2022 Republican Primary and then crushed George P. Bush by 50% points in the run-off.
For Murr, this is the second time he’s led an effort to remove a Republican official. Earlier this month, Murr’s committee recommended the expulsion of Bryan Slaton (R-Royse City) for misconduct.
