The Texas Senate “jurors” completed their deliberation and returned to the chambers to deliver their verdict on the 16 Articles of Impeachment against suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton. The verdicts will determine if the impeached attorney general will be removed from or return to his office and duties.
LIVE UPDATE:
VOTE ON ARTICLE 1: Yeas — 14 Nays — 16 NOT GUILTY
VOTE ON ARTICLE 2: Yeas — 14 Nays — 16 NOT GUILTY
ORIGINAL STORY FOLLOWS:
The 30 voting senators serving as jurors in the two-week impeachment trial deliberated on Friday and Saturday morning before announcing their are ready to return to deliver their decisions. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who is the presiding officer over the trial, announced the senators would be returning to the floor at 10:30 CDT to deliver their verdicts.
The Texas Senate members will vote on articles of impeachment at 10:30 a.m. #txlege pic.twitter.com/uZyFNt3mKy
— Office of the Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (@LtGovTX) September 16, 2023
On Friday, Patrick read the rules for voting. The senators will be required to vote on each of the 16 articles individually by writing their vote on a slip of paper. The clerk will draw the votes in a random order and read them aloud. Following the reading, Patrick will poll the senators individually to confirm their votes. Each senator will rise and announce “Yea” or “Nay.”
A “Yea” vote of 21 senators is required to sustain the article of impeachment. If they senators sustain the article, they will be required to make an additional vote on whether Mr. Paxton should be barred from ever holding public office in the future. A “Nay” vote will indicate an acquittal of the individual article. Only one “conviction” is required to remove the AG. The process will repeat for each of the 16 Articles of Impeachment being considered.
Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She is a trial lawyer who practices criminal defense and family law in East Texas. She was a Texas prosecutor and family court associate judge in Harris County, Texas.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
