Ken Paxton
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr.[2] (born December 23, 1962) is a far-right[3] American politician and lawyer in Texas.
A member of the Republican Party, he has been the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015, but has been suspended since May 27, 2023, following his impeachment by the Texas House of Representatives.
Paxton has been under indictment since 2015 on state securities fraud charges relating to activities prior to taking office.
He has pleaded not guilty.
The case has been delayed over various procedural issues, and has not yet come to trial.[4][5]
In October 2020, several high-level assistants in Paxton's office accused him of "bribery, abuse of office and other crimes."[6][7]
His trial in the Texas Senate began September 5, 2023.[8]
He previously served as Texas State Senator for the 8th district and the Texas State Representative for the 70th district.
Paxton rose to power as an ally of the Tea Party movement.[9]
He won a third term as Attorney General in 2022.
As Attorney General of Texas, Paxton has appointed prominent opponents of LGBT rights to leading positions within his department.
In June 2022, Paxton said he would defend state laws prohibiting consensual same-sex relationships if the Supreme Court precedent invalidating such laws, the Lawrence v. Texas decision, was overturned.
He sued the Joe Biden administration nearly 50 times.[3][10]
He supports a near-total ban on abortion access.[11]
After Biden won the 2020 U.S. presidential election and Trump refused to concede while making false claims of election fraud, Paxton aided Trump in his efforts to overturn the result.
He filed the unsuccessful Texas v. Pennsylvania case in the U.S. Supreme Court and spoke at the rally Trump held on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C., that immediately preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol.[12][13]
Paxton was impeached with bipartisan approval in May 2023 by the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives by a vote of 121-23.[14]
The articles of impeachment included allegations that Paxton gave preferential treatment to a political donor who bribed him, misapplied public resources and made false statements against whistleblowers, obstructed justice in the securities fraud trial against him, and made false statements regarding his financial interests.[18]
Two days before, the Republican-led Texas House General Investigating Committee had unanimously recommended impeachment and presented articles of impeachment.[16][19]
Paxton is separately being investigated by federal prosecutors for the same legal issues on coinciding federal statutes.[20]