Texas braces for the historic impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton

The Texas Senate will convene as a high court Tuesday to consider the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican firebrand accused by his own party of taking bribes and abusing his office.

Paxton, 60, has spent the past decade as the right’s chief legal attack dog, fighting many of President Donald Trump’s battles from Austin. Lawsuits to overturn the Affordable Care Act, legal protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children — commonly known as “Dreamers” — and the results of the 2020 election made him a popular force for the right, even after he was indicted for securities fraud. But his political support fractured this year when the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives voted 121-23 to impeach him on charges of abuse of office and bribery.

Paxton, only the third official in Texas history to be impeached, has denied wrongdoing and vowed to fight the charges in a trial that promises to be a political spectacle as it threatens to tear his party in two.