Texas Gov. Abbott appoints interim attorney general after Ken Paxton impeachment

Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, has appointed Fort Worth attorney, John Scott, as interim Attorney General of Texas, as Ken Paxton faces an impeachment trial.

Abbott made no remark at the GOP-led House’s resolution to question Paxton over allegations of corruption. Scott’s a long time of revel in and experience in litigation are anticipated to lead him whilst serving because the State’s most sensible legislation enforcement officer.

This isn’t Scott’s first task for Governor Abbott; he additionally served because the Texas Secretary of State all through the 2022 primaries and midterm election, overseeing the implementation of a sweeping election invoice influenced through former President Donald Trump’s election loss.

Scott’s time as Secretary of State used to be outlined through the creation of recent election rules that led to confusion in native election workplaces, with employees fearing legal fees in the event that they solicited a voter to forged a poll through mail. This resulted in hundreds of mail-in ballots being grew to become away because of complicated voter ID necessities.

Scott himself served a task in Trump’s battle to overturn the election ends up in Pennsylvania. He later mentioned he believed that Joe Biden gained the election however courted some controversy together with his reward of a broadly debunked movie alleging voter fraud within the 2022 election. In his resignation letter as Secretary of State, Scott defended native election officers.

Scott in the past served Governor Abbott when he served as Attorney General. He additionally served as Chief Operating Officer of the Health and Human Services Commission and Chair of the Board for the Department of Information Resources. Scott additionally served as a registered lobbyist this yr, representing shoppers of an army era corporate, a Frisco anti-abortion group, and South Texas College.

In a remark, Texas Democratic Party Chairman, Gilberto Hinojosa, referred to as Scott’s values “dark and anti-democratic” and was hoping he would reject his predecessor’s extremist and authoritarian notions of governance.

Paxton is suspended from tasks looking ahead to a Senate trial, which is able to make a decision whether or not to take away him from the process. Governor Abbott exercised his energy to nominate an interim company head whilst impeachment complaints play out.

Among the paperwork Paxton’s place of business dropped at senators’ workplaces closing week used to be a letter from Acting Attorney General Brent Webster harshly essential of the House and claiming senators are in an “unenviable position.” The Paxton impeachment trial will start someday sooner than Aug. 28.