The following statement was issued by State Senator Royce West (D-Dallas), on the outcome of the vote on the Articles of Impeachment of Warren Kenneth Paxton, Jr., who was voted not guilty on all 16 articles that were tried in the Texas Senate.
“This verdict unfortunately sanctioned a new standard of conduct for elected officials in Texas. These decisions will impact the standards by which elected officials may conduct themselves for the next 100 years.
There will be those who say that the House Managers did not meet their burden of proof, and that may be true on some articles. However, in my opinion, on Article IX involving bribery, the House proved beyond all doubt that Nate Paul employed Ken Paxton’s mistress, paid for a secret Uber account for Paxton’s personal use, and allowed the Attorney General of Texas to participate in an illicit affair; this, while he had almost unfettered access to the attorney general.
In fact, the evidence was so strong that it showed the Uber account was connected to one of Paul’s credit cards and was used by Paxton to visit the residences of his mistress Laura Olsen and Nate Paul. This arrangement and payment benefiting Paxton may never have been reported to the proper state authority, the Texas Ethics Commission.
The majority has set a poor example for future generations of elected officials by exonerating Paxton on this count. Yet and still, Paxton was exonerated by a majority of the Senate, thus condoning this despicable and unbecoming behavior. As a legislative body, we missed an opportunity to reaffirm our expectations of fitness for office. THE BAR HAS BEEN LOWERED.”
