Twice-impeached Trump eyes impeached Texas Attorney General for top DOJ role

President-elect Donald Trump is considering appointing impeached Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to his cabinet. 

CNN reported on Nov. 7 that Paxton was on a shortlist to run the Justice Department, as was Utah Sen. Mike Lee and former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker.

The Texas House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to impeach Paxton in May 2023. Paxton was accused of using his office to trade favors with Nate Paul, a wealthy real estate developer and Republican donor. Paul allegedly provided a job to a senate aide with whom Paxton was having an extramarital affair. In exchange, Paxton stymied state investigations into Paul’s business dealings.

Eight deputies in Paxton’s office reported the quid pro quo to federal authorities in 2020. Paxton allegedly fired the whistleblowers in retaliation. The deputies filed a wrongful termination lawsuit, and in 2023, Paxton agreed to settle with them for $3.3 million.

Paxton is the third Texas official to be impeached, following Gov. Jim Ferguson in 1917 and a district judge in 1975. The Texas Senate did not convict Paxton, allowing him to stay in office.

This is not the first time Paxton has been accused of corruption.

In July 2015, a Texas grand jury indicted Paxton on two counts of securities fraud and one count of failing to register as a financial adviser. Paxton was accused of recruiting investors to a tech company without disclosing that he could financially benefit from the transactions. The case is still ongoing.

“I am innocent of these charges,” Paxton said in 2015. “It is a travesty that some would attempt to hijack our system of justice to achieve political ends they could not accomplish at the ballot box.”

Paxton has backed Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. In 2020, Paxton petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory. The court declined to hear the case. The State Bar of Texas later investigated Paxton to determine if the petition amounted to professional misconduct.

Trump is expected to announce his Attorney General and other cabinet picks in the coming weeks.