Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asks supporters to peacefully rally to protest vote to impeach

By ACACIA CORONADO, JIM VERTUNO and JAKE BLEIBERG
Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has called on his supporters to protest when the GOP-led state House of Representatives takes up impeachment proceedings against him on Saturday. During a news conference Friday, the three-term Republican invited “fellow citizens and friends to peacefully come let their voices be heard at the Capitol tomorrow.” The request echoes former President Donald Trump’s call for people to protest his electoral defeat on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob violently stormed the U.S. Capitol. Paxton decried the impeachment proceeding as an effort to disenfranchise the voters who returned him to office in November. The state House will consider on Saturday whether to impeach Paxton on 20 articles, including bribery, unfitness for office and abuse of public trust.