Ken Paxton impeachment trial set to start in Texas Senate
The Texas House adopted 20 articles of impeachment against Paxton. The Senate will consider 16 of those articles in the trial.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The impeachment trial for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton will begin on Tuesday morning at the State Capitol. Proceedings are scheduled to start at 9 a.m. in the Senate chamber. KXAN will stream them in this story when they begin.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will be the presiding officer of the trial, functioning as a judge. Senators will serve as jurors. Proceedings will begin with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas administering oaths to Patrick and others involved in the process.
The Texas House adopted 20 articles of impeachment against Paxton. The Senate will consider 16 of those articles in the trial.
The first task for the court will be to rule on pretrial motions. Paxton’s attorneys have requested the Senate dismiss all of the articles of impeachment. Patrick can defer a decision on that motion until after evidence is presented, or he can allow senators to vote on whether to dismiss individual articles. A majority of senators, at least 16 members, would have to agree for an individual article to be dismissed.
After ruling on pretrial motions, all witnesses who are scheduled to testify in the impeachment trial are expected to take witness oaths at the same time in the Senate chamber. Patrick previously ordered all witnesses to appear at the Capitol on Tuesday morning.
Opening statements are expected to begin Tuesday after remarks from the lieutenant governor. Each side has 60 minutes for their opening statements. It is not clear if witnesses will be called to testify on Tuesday.
It is also not clear how long the trial will last, but this is not expected to be a speedy trial.
"It looks like it's going to be about a four week process," State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) said during an interview for Sunday's State of Texas politics program. Gutierrez said he believed the trial could last as long as six weeks.
“We are going to be locked in that room for eight, nine hours a day. You know, listening to the evidence,” Gutierrez said. “Ken Paxton will get a fair trial, same fair trial, impartial judgment that everybody should get in that situation. And we’ll see how it all goes.”