Mr. Murr, along with his unique curling mustache, parried many of the assaults on the procedure by means of returning to the seriousness of the fees in opposition to Mr. Paxton. “We will not tolerate corruption, bribery, abuse of office, retaliation and all the related charges that have been presented to you,” he stated in his final remarks. “I’m confident that you cannot tolerate, let alone defend, these most serious and grave official wrongs.”
Representative John Smithee, every other Republican, took on the position of arguing in opposition to impeachment, focusing much less on the accusations and extra on the techniques through which he seen the procedure as unfair. He stated that no longer sufficient proof have been introduced and that lawmakers had no longer had sufficient time to imagine one of these consequential resolution.
“It’s what I call the hang them now and judge them later policy,” he stated of the lawsuits.
Representative Ann Johnson, a Democrat and previous prosecutor, laid into Mr. Paxton from the flooring on Saturday, announcing he had damaged rules that might result in prison time. She additionally described what she stated have been senior individuals of Mr. Paxton’s body of workers whose integrity had pressured them to talk up about his habits. She stated one worker noticed Mr. Paxton inquiring for pricey renovations to his house that may be taken care of by means of his buddy and donor.
The worker, deeply disturbed at a state of affairs he considered wrong, give up his task, Ms. Johnson stated. When he persevered to be paid by means of Mr. Paxton, she stated, the guy returned the cash to Mr. Paxton’s marketing campaign. “This is the kind of integrity,” she stated, that investigators found out from the individuals who spoke up, many of whom have been Republicans.
House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican in his 2nd consultation main the House, controlled the lawsuits and remained most commonly quiet with the exception of urging decorum at the get started. But as a result of he used to be noticed as having allowed the continuing to happen in any respect, Mr. Phelan has come underneath withering and sustained assault from nationwide Republican figures, in particular the ones allied with Mr. Trump. After the impeachment vote, Mr. Trump for my part vilified Mr. Phelan. “What is our Country coming to?” Mr. Trump asked on his social media community, Truth Social.