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May 28 (UPI) -- Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas who was impeached and suspended from office Saturday, has blasted his impeachment as "outrageous" and part of an unfair "plot" against him." The ugly spectacle in the Texas House today confirmed the outrageous impeachment plot against me was never meant to be fair or just," Paxton said in a statement.
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Fellow Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives had voted to impeach Paxton after he was subject to legal scrutiny for alleged abuse of office and other scandals for nearly a decade.
The vote to impeach passed with 121 state lawmakers in favor of impeachment and 23 against, with two people voting present and three others absent from the chamber after five hours of Republican in-fighting.
The resolution to impeach required a simple majority to pass and the matter will now move to the Texas Senate for a trial.
In his remarks, Paxton attempted to discredit Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and the investigative committee he impaneled to look into his controversies. His argument largely hedged on the idea that he should not have been impeached because he was elected to the office.
"They disregarded the law, ignored the facts and demonstrated contempt for Texas voters," Paxton said.
"Texas voters now know that Speaker Phelan and the corrupt politicians he controls are more focused on political retribution against conservatives than the welfare of the people."
Paxton, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, added that the Texas Republicans who voted to impeach him are "liberal" and "now in lockstep" with the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to criticize Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after the vote, another unexpected round of Republican in-fighting on the matter. Abbott has so far remained silent on the impeachment of his attorney general.
"MISSING IN ACTION! Where is the Governor of Texas on his Attorney General's Impeachment?" Trump posted.
Other Republicans allied to the former president have also come to defend Paxton, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
"What is happening to Ken Paxton is a travesty. For the last nine years, Ken has been the strongest conservative AG in the country. Bar none. No attorney general has battled the abuses of the Biden administration more ferociously -- and more effectively -- than has Paxton," Cruz said.
"That's why the swamp in Austin wants him out. The special interests don't want a steadfast conservative AG. I understand that people are concerned about Ken's legal challenges. But the courts should sort them out."
