I finally finished reading the rules that were recently adopted by the Texas Senate for its impeachment trial of (suspended) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. It’s a largely boring mixed bag.
I will give some credit to the Texas Senate rules committee for defining something that at least has the potential to be a real and moderately fair trial. However, there are a few too many rules that could be easily abused. Here’s my take on the most interesting ones:
- Sen. Angela Paxton: Angela Paxton, Ken Paxton’s wife, is also a sitting Texas Senator. This unusual scenario was never going to be easy to resolve and it’s the one that’s been getting the most press. The rules do forbid her from voting and from participating in deliberations during the trial. That’s good. However, the rules also pre-enter her vote as “Present” … which counts towards the total number of votes cast. In essence, her “Present” vote will require 21 “Yes” votes to convict as opposed to 20. That’s bad. On the other hand, Angela Paxton is a duly-elected Senator. Completely removing her from the impeachment process could be unconstitutional. On this issue, I’ll give the rules committee a pass for finding a solution that pissed off everyone.
- Senators as Witnesses: Although at least one other Senator is a likely material witness against Paxton, the rules allow any Senator to simply refuse to testify at the impeachment trial. Although I understand the inherent conflict between being both a witness and a juror, putting Senators above the law seems patently wrong.
- Set Asides: The rules immediately set aside four of the 20 articles of impeachment – mostly related to Paxton’s pending securities fraud case – and those articles won’t even be considered at the impeachment trial. The rules say the Senate can come back to these articles later. They won’t.
- Motions to Dismiss: The rules allow the Senate to simply dismiss any article of impeachment pre-trial, without debate, by a simple majority vote. That’s complete crap. Hopefully, the Senate will deny all motions to blindly dismiss any of the charges and will at least hear the facts of the case.
- Private Deliberations: While both sides will present their cases in public and all votes will be held in public, the Senate deliberations will be private. I’d prefer that everything be open to the public, but I can appreciate an attempt to limit the political posturing that would result from open deliberations.
- Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick: The rules give the presiding officer a WHOLE LOT of unilateral, unchecked power. Also, while the rules give Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick the power to appoint an independent presiding officer (as he should), they also give him the power to appoint himself to that position. Show of hands: Who thinks that Patrick will willing give up power?
- Paxton’s Post-Conviction Future: If convicted on any article, Paxton will be removed as Attorney General. However, the rules then require a separate vote to consider disqualifying Paxton from holding any future state office. If overwhelming evidence forces a given Republican Senator to vote for conviction, a parallel vote against disqualification could provide some political cover.
- Trial Timing: The rules pushed the trial’s start date to September 5 from the August 28 date set by the House. The Senate’s change is meaningless except as a giant middle finger to the House. Nice start.