The impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton began in the Texas Senate Chambers in Austin. The republican attorney general pleaded “not guilty” to charges of corruption and bribery. Unlike a criminal trial, where an accused faces the possibility of incarceration, an impeachment trial simply seeks to remove an elected public servant from office, and to potentially bar them from holding public office in the future. Mr. Paxon is accused of using his office to benefit a large campaign donor, who allegedly paid for his home renovations, and who helped him engage in an extramarital affair. For Mr. Paxton to be removed from office, two-thirds of the Texas Senate would have to vote to convict him on any of the 20 articles of impeachment. The trial is expected to last about one month.
New York and Texas Head Toward Constitutional Showdown Over Abortion Shield Laws
Texas and New York are currently locked in an escalating state's rights battle over the mailing of abortion pills to patients in states with abortion bans. The central question is whether states must honor one another's abortion laws. After the U.S. Supreme Court...
