ANALYSIS: Conservative Lawmakers, Donald Trump Call for Dade Phelan’s Removal

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Texas Scorecard by  Michael Quinn Sullivan   | September 16, 2023

The full acquittal of Ken Paxton by the Texas Senate is seen as a repudiation of House Speaker Phelan and the Democrats’ control of the lower chamber.

Following the full acquittal of Attorney General Ken Paxton by the Texas Senate on Saturday, members of the Texas House are calling for the removal of their chamber’s leader. They are being joined in that effort by Donald Trump.

Paxton faced 20 articles of impeachment. Those were rushed before the Texas House in late May following a secret investigation by the General Investigating Committee. The articles followed the same political charges made against Paxton by challengers Eva Guzman and George P. Bush in the 2022 primary election. The political lobby group Texans for Lawsuit Reform fueled those charges with more than $3 million in campaign cash.

House members have said the rushed vote was described on the floor as a “loyalty vote” to Speaker Dade Phelan. In the end, 61 Democrats and 60 Republicans – including Phelan – voted for the impeachment. There were 23 House Republicans who opposed impeachment. One Democrat and one Republican both abstained from voting.

In the recent documentary The Texas Heist, political observers and GOP operatives named a dozen Republicans seen as instrumental in both impeaching Paxton and helping Democrats kill conservative priorities. Those Republican state representatives included: Dustin Burrows, Charlie Geren, Craig Goldman, Justin Holland, Todd Hunter, Jacey Jetton, Ken King, Stephanie Klick, Jeff Leach, Andrew Murr, Glenn Rogers, and Lynn Stucky.

After senators acquitted Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick offered a harsh criticism of the House’s “flawed” process. He took special aim at Speaker Phelan.

“The Speaker and his team rammed through the first impeachment of a statewide-elected official in Texas in over 100 years while paying no attention to the precedent,” said Patrick.

Lt. Gov. Patrick went on to note that House members had been warned by State Rep. John Smithee (R-Amarillo) ahead of the rushed vote. “Rep. Smithee told his fellow members the House process was indefensible and that the House did not follow the rules of evidence and their case was based on triple hearsay that would never be allowed in court.”

More: https://texasscorecard.com/state/analysis-conservative-lawmakers-donald-trump-call-for-dade-phelans-removal/

[Elderberry]

House members call for Phelan resignation after Senate acquits Paxton

The Center Square By Bethany Blankley 9/16/2023

Phelan remains defiant, says Senate didn’t do its job, attacks Patrick.

 After the Senate voted to acquit Attorney General Ken Paxton of all charges levied against him by the House General Investigating Committee on Saturday, several members of the House who voted against impeaching Paxton called on House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, to resign.

In an interview with The Center Square, Rep. Steve Toth, R-Spring, said Phelan should apologize and resign. He said the acquittal “isn’t just an exoneration [of Paxton]. It’s a repudiation of the Texas House. The Texas House owes not just Texas but the entire United States an apology for what they did. This was so wrong. We were told there would be evidence upon evidence upon evidence upon witnesses upon witnesses and there was nothing. It is a complete embarrassment for Texas, the Texas House, the speaker. The speaker needs to resign.”

Toth and the Republican Party of Texas were among the first to call the impeachment vote illegal and a “sham.”

Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Waxahachie, also called on Phelan to resign. In a lengthy statement, he applauded the Senate for “conducting a fair and transparent trial and for reaching a verdict that was obviously correct given the shocking lack of evidence. The Texas House leadership, who misled and pressured Republicans to join a Democrat effort to overturn the election, has, possibly irreparably, disgraced itself and tarnished the reputation of the entire Texas House.

“The staggering incompetence and dishonest conduct on display by the leadership of the Texas House, House General Investigating Committee, and Board of Managers must be repudiated.”

The House General Investigating Committee claims that AG Paxton “demonstrated a ‘shocking pattern of abuse and criminality’ and ‘the evidence we found was conclusive,’” he said, “were either outright lies, or the House Managers were so blinded by their desire to railroad a political enemy that they failed to take the time to learn the truth.”

More: https://www.thecentersquare.com/texas/article_bd60197a-54f0-11ee-b86d-a75963a7796d.html