Posted on 06/01/2023 11:58:34 AM PDT by JeepersFreepers
Ken Paxton’s most egregious crimes were not those given as excuses for impeachment by 61 Democrats and 60 Republicans in the Texas House. His true, and most inexcusable crime, was to challenge the autocratic rule of the Lone Star State by an unholy alliance of leftists Democrats and crony, anti-free market business Republicans.
It has long been an open secret in the Texas Capitol that the establishment lobby group Texans for Lawsuit Reform never liked Ken Paxton. TLR had reportedly grown frustrated with Paxton using the powers of the Office of the Attorney General to aggressively combat the Biden administration, Big Pharma, and Big Tech. Coupled with his popularity among social conservatives and the grassroots, the establishment-backing TLR made removing Paxton a 2022 priority. They failed expensively. They dumped an unprecedented $4 million into her GOP primary race – much of it to finance attacks on Paxton.
Their preferred candidate was liberal Republican Eva Guzman, who shared the same corporatist / big-business vision of the Democrat who has long run TLR’s agenda, a refugee from the Jimmy Carter administration named Dick Trabulsi.
Indeed, every single charge levied by the House impeachment was lifted—seemingly point for point—from the Guzman/TLR primary attacks.
Voters rejected the message and the messenger out of hand. She ended up barely making third place.
The House’s articles of impeachment provide no direct evidence and little in the way of direct factual allegations. Moreover, all of the allegations stem from facts that were well-known to the public prior to Paxton’s reelection in 2022.
Texas Government Code 665.081, referred to as the “forgiveness doctrine,” codifies the state’s policy of removing officers only for those acts occurring since their most recent election. The House protests that Section 665.081 does not bind the “constitutional” process of impeachment. But, as with much the House did at the behest of Democrats, this misses the point. The law sets out the policy of the State of Texas, which is to respect the opinion of voters when it comes to the conduct of their elected officials. Texas senators will have to grapple with this policy, and their respect for the wisdom of voters, when they take up the House’s charges.
Even as voters double down on conservative priorities, the threat of impeachment is designed to chill the passions of any conservative statewide official. Scurrilous allegations spread by disaffected staff and breathlessly repeated by third-rate opponents could suddenly become grounds for impeachment.
Texas Government Code 665.081, referred to as the “forgiveness doctrine,” codifies the state’s policy of removing officers only for those acts occurring since their most recent election. Moreover, all of the allegations stem from facts that were well-known to the public prior to Paxton’s reelection in 2022. This code may be the basis for challenging the legality of Paxton's impeachment.
George Pee Bush was runner-up in the 2022 primary election. Had Paxton lost, we would have had another Bush in high office in Texas. Paxton beat Bush 68 to 32% in the runoff.
Section 665.081 - No Removal for Acts Committed Before Election to Office
(a) An officer in this state may not be removed from office for an act the officer may have committed before the officer’s election to office.
(b) The prohibition against the removal from office for an act the officer commits before the officer’s election is covered by:
(1) Section 21.002, Local Government Code, for a mayor or alderman of a general law municipality; or
(2) Chapter 87, Local Government Code, for a county or precinct officer.
That’s the text of the State Law and clearly those who investigated and voted to impeach Ken Paxton have violated the law.
I loathe RINO’s more everyday. They are on the bottom rungs of society with few, if any, redeemable qualities.
They are literally walking talking piles of shit.
Kmk
Heartbreaking.
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