The attorneys for Ken Paxton filed a motion Monday to dismiss 19 of the against the suspended Republican attorney general of Texas.
Paxton鈥檚 lawyers claim the 19 articles of impeachment are related to allegations that happened before his most recent election, and therefore .
They said the articles violate a legal rule called the 鈥減rior-term doctrine.鈥�
鈥淭he alleged acts underlying nineteen of the Articles took place before the Attorney General鈥檚 most recent election and were highly publicized,鈥� the motion reads. 鈥淭hey therefore cannot factually or legally form the basis for the Attorney General鈥檚 removal.鈥�
Paxton鈥檚 attorneys also claim that moving forward with any of the articles of impeachment would negate the will of the voters, since many of the allegations were already public before his November 2022 reelection.
Monday鈥檚 motion comes a little over a month before the Sept. 5 trial against Paxton in the Texas Senate.
What is Paxton accused of?
Paxton by the Texas House of Representatives in May. The 20 articles of impeachment include constitutional bribery, misapplication of public resources and obstruction of justice.
Most of the articles are related to Paxton鈥檚 alleged decision to use his office to intervene in a federal investigation , an Austin real estate tycoon and one of Paxton鈥檚 political donors.
In a text message to The Texas Newsroom Monday, Rusty Hardin, an attorney who will serve as one of the lead prosecutors for the Texas House in the impeachment trial, said, 鈥淲e are obviously opposed and will file our response by August 15 as called for by the Senate rules.鈥�
Under the , a public official cannot be removed from office for acts committed before the person's election to office.
However, the Constitution is not specific on whether it refers to the first time the official is elected or the most recent election.
Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, said the courts would ultimately have to decide how to interpret or define 鈥渕ost recent election.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the key phrase because that鈥檚 the one that dictates when the timeline starts,鈥� Rottinghaus said. 鈥淚f it started when the Attorney General was first elected, it鈥檚 different than when the Attorney General was elected the most recent time.鈥�
Paxton鈥檚 attorneys have cited multiple Texas Senate Court of Impeachment rulings where it applied the 鈥減rior-term doctrine鈥� during other impeachment proceedings, including that of.
Rottinghaus told The Texas Newsroom precedent is important to consider, but added it鈥檚 debatable whether or not the allegations against Paxton were fully known prior to his most recent election.
According to an by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, 20% of Texans had heard a lot about Paxton鈥檚 legal problems, while 37% had heard some. On the other hand, 26% had not heard very much of the legal problems and 16% had heard nothing at all.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not to say that it鈥檚 not publicly known because it was reported and it鈥檚 out there, but most people were not aware by a significant degree of these kinds of charges,鈥� Rottinghaus said.
Now, it will be up to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the presiding officer of the Senate Court of Impeachment, to decide whether to dismiss the motion from Paxton鈥檚 lawyers 鈥� or dismiss the articles of impeachment.
鈥淭he issue of course is that to dismiss these articles would mean that effectively most of the House impeachment managers鈥� case falls out and that would obviously undermine the entirety of this process,鈥� Rottinghaus said.
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