The Daily - Republicans Impeach One of Their Own

Episode Date: May 31, 2023

Since 2016, the cardinal rule of Republican politics has been to defend Donald J. Trump and his allies at all costs, no matter the allegation. That appeared to change last week, when Texas lawmakers issued 20 articles of impeachment against their state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, a powerful Trump supporter.J. David Goodman, the Houston bureau chief for The New York Times, explains what the escalating conflict in Texas indicates about tensions within the party.Guest: J. David Goodman, the Houston bureau chief for The New York Times.Background reading: The extraordinary vote on impeachment exposed rifts among Texas Republicans and set the stage for a showdown in the State Senate.The escalating conflict between moderates and hard-liners in one of the Republican Party’s most important states highlights tension over the future of the party.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

From New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today. Since 2016, the cardinal rule of Republican politics has been to defend Donald Trump and his allies at all costs, no matter what the allegation. and his allies at all costs, no matter what the allegation. So why did Republican lawmakers in Texas just break that rule by voting to impeach the state's far-right attorney general? My colleague, David Goodman, explains.

It's Wednesday, May 31st. David, just to begin, remind us what Ken Paxton represents to national Republicans across the country. Well, really, Ken Paxton has made himself into a kind of hero of the right. At this point, he's really seen as probably the most effective and certainly the most aggressive of the Republican attorney generals in the country because of the lawsuits that he's been filing over his now three terms in office. He's part of a conservative legal movement that really is hoping and aggressively trying to use

the law to pursue policy goals. Another day, another lawsuit. On Wednesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a new one against the federal government. He's filed lawsuit after lawsuit, going back to the Obama era. Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton is accusing the Obama administration of overstepping its authority when it told public schools to let transgender students use the restrooms that correspond with their gender identity. He's a big thorn in the side of that administration. And then when Trump comes into office, he pivots and he aligns himself with him. Ken Paxton leading a pack of 20 states pushing to get Obamacare officially killed. And he begins filing legal briefs in defense of the policies

that the Trump administration is pursuing. The president's latest attempt to overturn the election is a lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. You know, he's out there at the end of 2020 fighting against the results

of that election. He's requesting the Supreme Court invalidate results in four swing states Biden won. And that's something that is a huge political milestone for him. This afternoon, Trump held a conveniently timed lunch with Republican attorneys general, including Ken Paxton. It's what really gets him the enduring support of Donald Trump.

It is so awesome to be here. I want you to know that Texas fights. He appears with Trump and speaks at Trump's January 6th rally. Twelve straight lawsuits related to mail-in ballots. We fought. We won every single one of those cases. And because of that, Donald Trump won Texas by over 600,000 votes. And even after Trump's not in office, he's still there defending the Trump administration. He files briefs to try and keep Trump administration policies in place. Early on in the Biden administration, he was able to challenge ending of the Trump-era policy of Remain in Mexico,

which had migrants staying in Mexico while they awaited immigration hearings. And he essentially forced the Biden administration to restart that Trump-era policy. Hmm. Kind of single-handedly. Exactly. And it's not only that he files some suits, he files so many. You know, you'll just find him suing over mask requirements in airports and airplanes. You know, he fought the Biden administration over workplace policies on gender pronouns. And so he's really put himself in the middle of these big fights and really leading the charge on so many of them.

He's winning many of them. And even when he's losing, he's forcing a public debate and also a sort of legal gumming up the system, a delay in implementation or a reconsideration in some cases. And he's really sort of winning the battle on the right for where the conversation should be. Right. And I think, David, that is why all of us were so stunned when a few days ago, Ken Paxton was suddenly impeached by Republicans who control the Texas legislature. Because Republicans of Paxton's stature, who are allies of Trump, are by definition defended by fellow Republicans. They aren't

impeached by them. We've seen that over and over and over again, no matter how grave the sin that's committed by a Republican. But in this case, that didn't happen. And so we want to understand why in this case, a hero of the Trump wing of the Republican Party was taken out rather than defended. So help us understand why this one played out so differently than we've come to expect. Well, it's really fascinating and took almost everyone in Texas by surprise, primarily because a lot of the things that Ken Paxton has been accused of, people in Texas have known for years. He's been in trouble almost from the moment he took office. He was facing accusations during

his first campaign for attorney general that he had essentially given investment advice without being properly registered to do so. And right after he's elected in 2014, he was indicted for that, a felony crime. And so suddenly you have the newly elected top law enforcement official under felony state indictment. And it didn't seem like his political career was going to take off in the way that it had at that moment. Right. That does not seem like the best possible start to the time as attorney general. Right. So it's not even the only thing that, you know, he's accused of doing improperly during his first term. And he's, you know, he's also accused of various other sorts of misdeeds.

his first term. And he's, you know, he's also accused of various other sorts of misdeeds. So most famously in Texas, he was accused of having stolen a thousand dollar Mont Blanc pen out of a security line at the local county courthouse. And he's actually seen on surveillance video doing this. And he eventually says it was misunderstanding and returns the pen. But these are the kinds of things that he sort of wrapped up in during his first term. And it makes him seem vulnerable. But at the same time as that's happening, he's kind of wrapping himself in the wing of the Republican Party that is ascendant. And that's, you know, no more clear than with the election of Donald Trump, where Ken Paxton sees that as the direction that the party is going in. It's really where he is. He's quite a conservative politician as attorney general, and he uses his office to essentially go to bat for the new Trump administration.

And by doing so, he's able to make the argument that he's an effective fighter and an ally of a very popular president, at least among Republicans in Texas. And so despite all his troubles, you know, by the time we get to the election of 2018, like his misdeeds are part of the attack ads that are being run against him. You know, the surveillance video of him stealing the pen is an attack ad from his Democratic opponent. But, you know, it just doesn't resonate. And so he goes to voters and he wins reelection. So Paxton successfully insulates himself against all these political and legal liabilities by telling Republicans, I am your ally of Donald Trump. See me the way you see him. Don't worry about

my alleged personal conduct. Re-elect me and I will champion your cause. That's right. I mean, he really does play into that sort of notion of just fighting for your team and voting for your team. And then we get to 2020 and we sort of have, you know, everything happen again, although much worse for Ken Paxton. Hmm. What do you mean? Well, what ends up happening in 2020 is that many of his most senior aides inside the attorney general's office come out publicly and accuse him of abusing his office, of possibly taking bribes, of corruption, and requesting an investigation by the FBI. Huh. At issue here are allegations that Ken Paxton used his office to benefit a wealthy political donor who was under investigation by the FBI and also facing a lawsuit. They allege that he has used the Office of Attorney General

to benefit a particular friend and donor, a local Austin real estate developer named Nate Paul. The whistleblower lawsuit alleged that Paxson helped Paul gain access to investigative documents that related to the 2019 FBI's search of Paul's business and home. And that he has helped this donor, and in return, the donor has helped him. The whistleblowers allege that in return, Paul gave Paxton $25,000 to his campaign, which allegedly went to remodeling his home and employing Paxton's mistress. So this is really adding up to quite a mess for Ken Paxton.

That's right. These top aides are really important voices in quite a mess for Ken Paxton. That's right. These top aides are really important voices in sort of conservative legal circles in Texas. These are not folks who are coming from the left or have been left over from a previous administration. These are folks who are brought in to be sort of part of this fight that Ken Paxton is engaging in against federal government policies. And suddenly you have these folks saying what Ken Paxton is doing with the office is not right. We wouldn't stand for it, and we think it might be criminal. And in response, the attorney general turns around and fires them. Hmm. Basically punishes them for speaking out against him.

Right. And it should be said that Ken Paxton has denied that that's the reason that these aides in many cases were let go. This is now being disputed. But what's not disputed is that these folks were conservatives who objected to what he was doing. And as his reelection comes up in 2022, once again, Paxton is facing a really serious challenge to his political prospects, so much so that the Republican primary in 2022 is just this all-out scrum of different people who think they can beat him. And it's major names from Texas politics, including George P. Bush, the son of Jeb Bush. Well, Texans deserve better. We have an attorney general that's facing criminal

indictment. And, you know, Bush during the campaign specifically mentions these legal issues, you know, as a way to attack Baxter. And if he's as innocent as he proclaims, then why doesn't he exercise his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial by his peers? Because we all know the answer. He's guilty. And so during that primary, which is incredibly hard fought, all the different candidates who are major figures in the Republican Party in the state are trying to get Donald Trump's endorsement. They're saying that they should have it and that Ken Paxton really doesn't deserve to stay in that office. And

in the end, Trump ends up staying with Ken Paxton. Well, everyone knows who he is. He's been the most effective attorney general, and we think he's just a great guy. Get out and vote. And it's largely because he's seen Paxton be with him for all these years. And he just sees him as an ally that's been there. And then Trump, at his most critical moment, is there for Ken Paxton. He's done a terrific job for Texas and for our country. And he has my complete and total endorsement. And it's not just Trump. It's like the entire universe of Trump supporters.

Greetings to all my America first conservatives in the Lone Star State. It's Trump's son, Don Jr. Ken Paxton is a true fighter who has led the way for the MAGA movement. And so he ends up winning reelection again in 2022, and this time by an even larger margin than he did four years earlier. this time by an even larger margin than he did four years earlier. Wow. So his problems have actually gotten even worse, but his margin of victory has gotten even bigger because he is still wrapping himself quite successfully in the flag of Trumpism. That's right. I mean, he comes out of that election both victorious

and, you know, feeling aggrieved in this kind of way that's very familiar from the Trump presidency. And during his victory party. So I just want to say the reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. He talks about how he's not safe. Just because we won tonight, the fight is not over. They're going to continue to come after me. They're going to continue to come after Texas. They're going to continue to come after Texas. They're going to continue to come after Republicans around the country. And that these people, they're going to keep coming after not just him, but his voters, you, the people of Texas that he represents.

We're here to fight for individuals. We're here to fight for our neighbors. And I promise you this, we will continue to do that. So God bless you. Thank you for giving me another Trump. And he more fully aligns himself with that kind of Trump voter that sees attacks on their favorite politicians as attacks on them personally. And that's something that he sort of draws a line to right after being reelected late last year.

And so there's really a feeling that Ken Paxton is in Austin to stay. And there's even a joke going around the Texas Capitol that after the nuclear war, there's going to be bees, there's going to be roaches, and there's going to be Ken Paxton. And the idea of that joke is that nothing, I mean, nothing could get Ken Paxton out of the job of attorney general. We'll be right back. So David, what is it that ends up changing this equation, disrupting this dynamic and this playbook that has been so successful in shielding Paxton from the repercussions of his alleged misconduct. So the thing that really changes everything is that earlier this year, Paxton comes to the state legislature and asks them for millions of dollars to settle his legal dispute with

the folks he fired from the office. The former aides who had accused Paxton of misconduct and in some cases were forced out seemingly as a result. Exactly. You know, four of those former deputies actually sued Paxton for wrongful termination. And that case was moving along earlier this year. And then they reached a settlement, which is that they dropped the lawsuit if Ken Paxton paid them $3.3 million.

And so Ken Paxton went to the state legislature who funds his office and asked them for the money to settle this lawsuit. And the Texas House really balks at this. They don't want to do it. And what we didn't know at the time is that this request for money is what spurs the House to start an investigation

into the underlying conduct behind this request for money is what spurs the House to start an investigation into the underlying conduct behind this request. And so they assign former prosecutors to begin looking into the accusations that these former aides have lodged against Ken Paxton. And all this, you know, is happening behind closed doors, you know, unbeknownst to really anyone in the Capitol besides a small group. Until last week, when this committee of the House has been looking into it, comes forward and says, here's what we've been doing for the last few months, and here's what we think should be done about it. We think that he should be impeached.

Members. And so a couple days later on Saturday. Mr. Speaker, I call up the privilege resolution, HR 2377, And so a couple days later on Saturday... Mr. Speaker, I call up the privilege resolution, H.R. 2377, impeaching Warren Kenneth Paxton, Attorney General for the Senate. There's this very solemn, actually,

gathering of all of the House members in the chamber to debate this for about four hours. I began this week with no idea that the House was considering impeaching the Attorney General. Now we are preparing to remove him from office before the day is out. There is no need to rush to judgment. Honor demands that those in authority use their power to try him and remove him from office, not to seek political advantage, but out of compunction. May God help us to pass And ultimately, they take a vote to impeach Ken Paxton on 20 articles of impeachment.

Have all members voted? There have been 121 ayes and 23 nays. The resolution is adopted. Out of the 85 Republican members, 60 of them vote in favor of impeachment. Wow. Which means immediately, at that moment, Paxton is temporarily removed as a state attorney general. So, David, this is the key question. What exactly had changed here?

Because Ken Paxton, up to far as to actually impeach him. Because as you have said throughout this episode, so much of this information has been available for so long. Right. I mean, that was the argument that his defenders were making is that this is not new. And in fact, he was just reelected by voters who knew this information, you know, only a few months earlier. But what really seems to have changed for the Republicans that voted to impeach

was that now Ken Paxton was trying to get them into his mess, essentially. He wanted them to vote for settling a lawsuit based on what he had done. And in a certain sense, as some of the Republicans who spoke during the proceeding said, he was trying to make them complicit in his done. And in a certain sense, as some of the Republicans who spoke during the proceedings said, he was trying to make them complicit in his activities.

And I think- Fascinating. That was the bridge that for many was too far. This was an attorney general that was now asking them to say, you did nothing wrong and this is okay. Right, because if they approved that money, they were in a sense approving of his conduct by paying off his accusers, his former employees. Right, they would have been part of the effort to essentially cover it up, and they didn't want to be part of that.

But there's also something else at play, more moderate. And many of the Republicans who are representatives in it are not as sort of lockstep with what Donald Trump wants or even what that wing of the party wants. It's much more rooted in a more traditional Texas Republican posture. And they have their own voters at home who are in districts that are relatively more suburban, in some cases a little more urban. And so you have this body that has increasingly found itself really at odds and sometimes at open political war with the more conservative, more sort of Trump-aligned wing of the party in Texas coming out and making this stand and drawing this line and saying that they're not going to stand for Ken Paxton's accused actions in this instance, if he wants to bring them into it, come what will, politically.

Right. So the geographic and demographic reality of these Texas House districts allows these House Republicans to vote to do something that would, to the outside world, look incredibly hard, which is impeach Ken Paxton in this moment. Right. And it really is reflecting this sort of debate that's been roiling the Republican Party, which is over the future direction of the party. And really in Texas, this debate is front and center because of the demographic changes and the urbanization that's happening here. You have some Republicans who believe that the party needs to better appeal to the growing cities in this state. And then there are others who believe that, no, you know, the party needs

to stick closer to its principles, more like what Ken Paxton represents in his lawsuits and what Donald Trump represents in some of his actions. And the House more represents a side that says, if we're going to survive, you know, not in two years or in five years, but in 10 years in a state that's becoming increasingly urban, increasingly diverse and beat Democrats, we can't go so far in this direction of, you know, anything goes. And I think it's that debate over where to take the party that is being reflected in this impeachment battle. in this impeachment battle. So David, when we try to understand why the situation went the way that it did, why these 60 Texas House Republicans decided to break the rules of the Republican Party

and do what the vast majority of congressional Republicans refused to do twice when it came to impeaching Trump, we should see their decision in a few ways. First, that they could tolerate Paxton's problems when they were Paxton's problems. But the minute Paxton tried to make it the legislature's problems, they said, enough is enough.

Second, because so many of these Texas House Republicans represent moderate districts, where voters are not in the thrall of Trump or Paxton, these Republicans could afford, politically speaking, to vote their conscience. And finally, it sounds like a lot of these Texas House Republicans saw this vote as having potential political upside because they know Texas is changing and it's becoming bluer. And these House Republicans are kind of looking into the future and are seeing a Texas that will be less red and less beholden to far-right Republicans like Ken Paxton.

Right. I mean, that really is the open question here, whether these House Republicans are more clearly seeing the direction of the state of Texas than those associated with Ken Paxton, or whether he's in the right about where the party is going. And a lot of this is going to get sorted out relatively quickly. Over the summer, there will be a trial of Ken Paxton in the state Senate, which is a much more conservative body than the state house. And if there's not two-thirds of senators there to convict him, Ken Paxton will be acquitted and he'll immediately resume the office of attorney general. And if Ken Paxton is not convicted, if he's acquitted and he goes back to being AG, what's going to happen to those Texas House Republicans who followed their heart and

their principles and went out on something of a limb? Well, I think we're really going to test the question of how safe their districts really are for them to take this kind of vote. And I've already heard from people aligned with Ken Paxton that, you know, they're looking for a bloodbath in the next primary election, that they're going to run Republicans against these House members, and they expect to be able to beat them, to replace these folks who have been a sort of moderate force in Texas politics. And I think we'll see whether that comes to pass. But really, beyond Ken Paxton, what might be the result of all of this is a reshaping of the political dynamic and the forces at play in Republican politics and the largest Republican state in the nation.

punish these House Republicans, who, as you said, think they're in safe districts. But we all know that it doesn't take that many Republican voters to come out and support perhaps a Paxton-Trump-backed Republican candidate to make that person the nominee. And if that happens in enough seats across the Texas House, they could end up taking out a bunch of these House Republicans. And that would very much change the meaning of Ken Paxton's impeachment because the lesson would be very different than it is right now, that these were bold, courageous House Republicans following principle over party. Instead, this case, this rare exception that broke the rule of Republicans defending other

Republicans would end up being a story about why it is very unwise to follow your principle over your party. That's right. This would be a kind of cautionary tale that, you know, Republicans who are foolhardy enough to take on someone like Ken Paxton will be punished for doing so, will lose their seat. Ken Paxton, will be punished for doing so, will lose their seat. And what we may end up seeing coming out of this whole impeachment process is a Texas House that no longer acts as a wall or as a kind of last check on the most sort of right-leaning impulses of the party and essentially crumbles and leaves Texas more fully in the hands of the most conservative, most Trump-aligned,

most hardcore elements for some time. Well, David, thank you very much. We appreciate it. Well, thanks for having me. We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today. Not one Republican should vote for this deal. It is a bad deal.

On Tuesday, hard-right House Republicans were in open revolt over the deal reached by Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden to avoid a U.S. default, saying that it failed to sufficiently rein in the size of government. The House is expected to pass the deal later today with support from moderates in both parties. But during a news conference, several of the chamber's most conservative Republicans, including Representative Chip Roy of Texas, said they would seek to defeat it. We will continue to fight it today, tomorrow, and no matter what happens,

there's going to be a reckoning about what just occurred unless we stop this bill by tomorrow. And at least eight drones targeted Moscow on Tuesday in the first attack to hit civilian areas of the city since the start of Russia's war on Ukraine. Ukraine denied responsibility but is widely believed to be behind the attacks, which appeared intended to instill the same terror in residents of Moscow that Russia has created among residents of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Today's episode was produced by Carlos Prieto, Stella Tan, Asta Chaturvedi, and Ricky Novetsky. It was edited by Rachel Quester, contains original music by Dan Powell, Marian Lozano,

Alisha Ba'itu, and Rowandoe, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Lansford of Wonderland. That's it for The Daily. I'm Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.