Ken Paxton says he’s open to running against Sen. John Cornyn

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Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday alleged without evidence that the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden was behind the failed attempt to impeach him on charges of bribery and corruption.

In his first remarks since being acquitted by the Texas Senate on Saturday on 16 articles of impeachment, Paxton told conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that he believed the impeachment was retribution for lawsuits he filed challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election in several states as well as lawsuits Paxton filed challenging Biden’s policies.

“We were a huge problem for the Biden administration, and that was a way to get me out of the way,” Paxton said.

He noted that two of the lawyers who worked on the impeachment prosecution had worked for the federal Department of Justice during Biden’s term.

“That’s not an accident,” Paxton said. “They were sent there.”

In the wide-ranging interview, Paxton blasted Texas Republicans he considers too moderate, including House Speaker Dade Phelan, former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove and the all-Republican Court of Criminal Appeals.

Paxton excoriated Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn as a poor representative for Texans and said a strong candidate needs to challenge him in 2026 — and suggested that he may be the man to do so. He was particularly critical of what he said was Cornyn’s failure to protect Texas from undocumented immigrants.

“I can’t think of a single thing he’s accomplished for our state or even for the country, let alone the fact that we have a massive invasion into our state and he doesn’t speak out against it,” Paxton said. “I’ve never seen him propose legislation that significantly affects it”

During the 47-minute interview posted on the social media platform X, Carlson and Paxton did not discuss at length the substance of the impeachment case against the attorney general.