Ken Paxton says he is 're-energized' after suspension, hints at Senate run in new interviews
AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says he is "re-energized" after his months-long suspension from office following his May impeachment by the Texas House. He went on the attack during a blitz of media interviews.
It's highlighting an apparent growing civil war within the Texas Republican Party.
Paxton sat down for his first interview following his impeachment acquittal with former FOX News host Tucker Carlson.
The interview covered a wide range of topics, including Paxton's problems with the impeachment process, how the attorney general views the political state of Texas and his displeasure with Texas Senator John Cornyn.
Paxton claimed, without evidence, that Republicans who supported his impeachment worked with the Biden administration to try and remove him from office.
"It became political completely, and I didn’t know how it was going to turn out on the political side," Paxton said. "The Senate is great. They're very conservative. They've done great things for Texas, but they get blocked. A lot of my stuff gets blocked by the Texas House because Dade Phelan, the speaker, is controlled by the Democrats.
The Republican-controlled House impeached Paxton in May with 60 of the body's 85 Republicans voting in favor of impeachment.
But Paxton and hardline Conservatives have been critical of Phelan for bipartisan efforts, including his decision to honor the longtime bipartisan tradition of appointing Democrats to chair some House committees.
Paxton also took aim at other Republicans who spearheaded the impeachment, including Plano Republican Jeff Leach, who spoke during the closing arguments.
"In voting to impeach General Ken Paxton, my dear friend, a political mentor, a brother in Christ and a once trusted advisor, this has not just been a hard vote. This has been one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do in my life," he said.
Texas senators voted to acquit Paxton on 16 articles of impeachment.
Ken Paxton acquitted on all articles of impeachment by Texas Senate
Ken Paxton has been acquitted of all 16 articles of impeachment by the Texas Senate.
Only two Republicans voted to convict Paxton on any of the impeachment articles. Nine Republican votes were needed to remove Paxton from office.
Paxton was immediately reinstated to his role as attorney general. He said he is ready to get back to work.
"I've been thinking about what I want to do when I get back since the day I left. So, I'm re-energized to do the things that I think the voters sent me to do," he said.
Paxton brought up the state's antitrust lawsuit against Google, challenges to pharmaceutical companies, voter fraud and blocking the Biden administration from doing things that Paxton believes are unconstitutional.
Paxton says he'll be actively supporting primary challengers to those who crossed him.
"There's a lot of Collin County reps that didn't talk to me that I've been friends with her long time," Paxton said in an interview with Mark Davis. "It would have been nice to have gotten one call from them and say, ‘I don't care about the evidence. I'm going to vote for this.’ But I never got that courtesy. So I will definitely be speaking out. Jeff Leach, get ready."
Leach tweeted a video Thursday of a football team singing, "We ready."
Paxton is not stopping at House members.
Senator Cornyn, who spoke out against Paxton, saying he was troubled by the allegations, was one of the targets of the attorney general's ire.
Paxton said he believed Cornyn was not doing enough to handle the problems at the border. He then hinted at a run for Senate against Cornyn in 2026.
[CARLSON: "Why don't you just run against him?"]
"Hey look, everything's on the table for me. Now that I've been through this, and I've seen how guys like John Cornyn have represented the State of Texas and not represented us, I think it's time somebody needs to step up and run against this guy that will do the job and do it the right way and represent us and worry about what's going on at the border."
It won’t be long to see the political ramifications of the party's fracture. Gov. Greg Abbott says he'll call lawmakers back for a special session next month on school choice. It’s an issue where there was already a divide between the House and Senate.
Paxton still faces felony securities fraud charges and is under a separate FBI investigation for corruption.