Former President Donald Trump is claiming he “saved” Texas’ embattled attorney general from being removed from office.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was acquitted Saturday of charges in 16 articles of impeachment after a nearly two week trial in the Senate. Lawmakers were weighing whether to sustain the articles and remove Paxton from office.
“Yes, it is true that my intervention through TRUTH SOCIAL saved Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from going down at the hands of Democrats and some Republicans, headed by PAUL RINO (Ryan), Karl Rove, and others, almost all of whom came back to reason when confronted with the facts,” Trump said in a Monday post on Truth Social.
He continued to praise Paxton, cheering his return to the attorney general’s office. Paxton had been suspended since the House voted 121-23 to impeach him in late May.
“Ken has been a great A.G., and now he can go back to work for the wonderful people of Texas. It was my honor to have helped correct this injustice!”
Paul Ryan is the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and Karl Rove was a deputy chief of staff and chief adviser to George W. Bush. Rove authored a Wall Street Journal opinion article headlined “The End Is Near for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.”
Trump offered words of support for Paxton in a Sept. 14 post on Truth Social. He congratulated Paxton on Saturday for a “great and historic Texas sized VICTORY” when cleared by senators.
Paxton has been one of Trump’s top allies in Texas, earning the former president’s endorsement during his 2022 reelection bid. The Texas official spoke at the Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington and, in a case the Supreme Court declined to take up, sued four states won by President Joe Biden in 2020.
Trump was impeached and acquitted twice.
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