Ken Paxton's Wife Breaks Silence on Impeachment Trial

UPDATE Jun 22, 2023 1:30 AM CDT

Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton won't be voting in her husband's impeachment trial. The GOP-controlled state Senate decided Wednesday night to bar her from taking any part in the trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton when it begins Sept. 5, though she is required to attend, the AP reports. “The citizens of Texas can count on the Senate of Texas to have a fair and just trial,” said Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the Senate’s presiding officer.

Jun 20, 2023 7:31 AM CDT

Will she or won't she attend? That's been the question on everyone's mind about Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, on whether she'll take part in the impeachment trial this summer of her husband, suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton. Now, an answer: She'll be there. "I will carry out my duties, not because it is easy, but because the Constitution demands it and because my constituents deserve it," the 60-year-old Republican senator said in a Monday statement, per the Houston Chronicle.

Showing up in the state Senate Chamber for the proceedings, which are to start no later than Aug. 28. isn't the same as taking part in the vote against her husband, however, and Angela Paxton's statement didn't address whether she'd recuse herself from that part, per the AP. The senator has kept mum in the weeks since her husband's impeachment by a GOP-run House of Representatives. The Texas constitution notes that legislators with a personal stake in certain cases should recuse themselves, reports the Texas Tribune.

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Ken Paxton, a Republican like his wife, faces 20 articles of impeachment, which include allegations of bribery, abuse of public trust, obstruction of justice, and whistleblower retaliation. One accusation that may bring extra discomfort to Angela Paxton as she sits through the trial: that of her husband allegedly helping a woman with whom he's said to have had an affair get a job through an Austin real estate investor. If Ken Paxton is convicted, which would require a vote of two-thirds of the state Senate, he'll be permanently barred from holding office in Texas, per the AP. (More Ken Paxton stories.)