Ken Paxton's historic impeachment trial gets underway on Tuesday
AUSTIN, Texas - The historic impeachment trial of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton begins Tuesday morning.
Paxton will have the opportunity to testify before his political fate is decided by a jury of state senators.
The last time a statewide official was impeached and convicted was when it happened to then-Governor James Ferguson in 1917.
He was convicted on 10 articles of impeachment.
This is a lot different, we are in 2023.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has had a legal cloud over him since he got into office.
This time, Republicans and Democrats in the house felt the allegations were strong enough to bring forth multiple articles of impeachment.
We will have to wait until Tuesday to see how many articles will be heard by the jury.
The allegations include improper use of office, corruption and an alleged affair.
Ken Paxton's affair will be focus of impeachment trial
In interviews with House impeachment managers, Paxton’s former top deputies — as well as his former personal aide — said his affair was common knowledge. Paxton's impeachment trial is set to begin Tuesday.
The impeachment trial is scheduled to start around 9 a.m., but there will be plenty of the action on the third floor around 7 a.m. when people can line up to witness the impeachment in person.
Only about 49 members of the media will be able to witness the trial in person in the Senate gallery.
Over the week, Ken Paxton and his wife, Collin County State Senator Angela Paxton, spoke at the Collin County Labor Day Picnic.
It is likely the couple's last public appearance together before the impeachment trial.
Angela Paxton introduced her husband, the suspended attorney general, saying he is the love of her life, despite allegations of an affair.
Ken Paxton said there's not a lot he can talk about because of a gag order, but he did hint that he wants his supporters to vote out House Republicans who voted to impeach him.
"I would love to talk about what’s coming up for me for the next couple of weeks. I have a gag order, so I cannot talk about that, but I can talk about something that has maybe become the leading issue that we deal with as a county and the state needs to deal with and that is something known at the Texas House of Representatives," Paxton said. "Let's clean house. God bless you."
Texas: The Issue Is - Ken Paxton Impeachment Special
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton could become the third elected Texas official to ever be impeached and removed in state history. FOX 4's Steven Dial, FOX 7's Rudy Koski and FOX 26's Greg Groogan talk about what they expect to see during the impeachment trial.
So the Texas Senate gallery is the place to be.
FOX 4's Steven Dial will be at the Senate early to get his seat with media from across the state.
FOX 4 will have team coverage of the trial.
You can watch the livestream on FOX4News.com, the FOX 4 YouTube page and FOX LOCAL.