Ken Paxton: Why Republicans are impeaching a Trump ally in Texas
BBC By Anthony Zurcher
BBC News
The impeachment trial for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton began on Tuesday, setting the stage for a political and legal drama that exposes deep divides within the Republican Party.
The fate of the state's top lawyer, an ally of former President Donald Trump, is in the hands of the Republican-controlled state Senate, which serves as a jury in the case. But it's far from clear how his fellow Republicans will cast their votes - and that has provoked fury at the national level too.
"We want the entire Maga movement to understand that what's going on in Texas is not just about Texas," said former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon, referencing the former president's "Make America Great Again" movement on a recent episode of his podcast.
In May, the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives voted 121 to 23 to impeach the state's top lawyer on 20 counts of corruption, obstruction of justice, bribery and abuse of public trust. The charges relate to favours he allegedly granted a Texas real estate developer, the use of public funds to punish whistleblowers on his staff and cover up their allegations, and benefits he directed to a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.
