TX Tribune: “Texas senators have acquitted Attorney General Ken Paxton on 16 articles of impeachment. Paxton was accused of misusing the powers of the attorney general’s office to help his friend and donor Nate Paul, an Austin real estate investor who was under federal investigation.
The House impeachment managers insisted that they proved their claims of bribery and corruption, arguing that the jury of 30 senators had no choice but to convict. Paxton’s defense team successfully argued that the case was full of holes, circumstantial evidence and misdirection….
“It was a joke for us to have to go through this,” said defense attorney Dan Cogdell, who derided the bipartisan House-led impeachment as “a sham.” “This should have never happened.”
House impeachment managers who drove the effort to oust Paxton disagreed, saying in a separate Capitol news conference that it was the vote to acquit that deserved condemnation.
“Managers presented overwhelming evidence that Ken Paxton is the most corrupt politician in the state of Texas at this time,” said Rep. Ann Johnson, a Houston Democrat and vice chair of the House team. “And the Republicans in the Texas Senate just returned him to the office of top cop.””