A member of the Texas House of Representatives has filed a resolution asking the chamber to issue a formal apology to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the aftermath of the failed impeachment trial.
State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R–Arlington) filed House Resolution 16 on Tuesday, calling on the House of Representatives to extend a formal apology to Paxton for its “political weaponization of the impeachment process.”
“We must never repeat such grievous errors. I look forward to this resolution being voted on during this special session,” wrote Tinderholt.
The resolution cites many of the House’s failures in a “secretive, rushed, and flawed proceeding.”
Just two days after the House General Investigating Committee revealed that it had spent months surreptitiously scrutinizing the actions of Attorney General Paxton, it recommended impeachment; it failed to put witnesses under oath during its investigation and then failed to follow the rules of evidence in alleging wrongdoing, basing its case on hearsay that would never be admissible in a court of law; Attorney General Paxton was not given the opportunity to defend himself to the Investigating Committee.
Furthermore, Tinderholt added that the House General Investigating Committee failed to provide House members with adequate time to evaluate the information it presented to the members, causing Paxton to be suspended from office.
“The fair and deliberative Senate trial exposed the haste, flimsiness, and unfairness of the House impeachment process, and Attorney General Paxton was duly vindicated; the impeachment process in the House was a debacle that undermined its legitimacy and integrity, and in order to restore public faith, it must make amends for the grievous errors committed,” the resolution continues.
Paxton, meanwhile, has called on Speaker Dade Phelan to resign and has begun endorsing primary challengers against Republican House members who supported the impeachment.
