>> KPRC, 2 news begins right
now with breaking news. And
that breaking news comes
directly from the state Capitol
where Attorney General Ken
Paxton has been impeached.
Thank you for joining us on
Bill Barajas. We go straight to
KPRC. 2 investigator, Mario
Diaz Whos live from the Capitol
in Austin. Mario.
>> Yeah, Bill Barajas. This is
there’s been a a historic
making day here at the state
Capitol happened the last 75
minutes. The attorney general
for the state of Texas, Ken
Paxton has been impeached by
the House of Representatives.
It happened right there inside
of the chamber again in the
last hour and a half. How did
we get here? Let me walk you
through the process as we show
the actual vote taking place.
It was about a 4 hour hearing.
What happened is that you had
basically all of the articles
of impeachment. These are the
charges levied against Paxton
laid out to the entire assembly
by the committee that was
investigating Paxton. This is
the general investigating
committee. It’s only members of
the House of Representatives.
They laid out every aspect of
they say was behavior unlawful
by the attorney general and
behavior that should result
in his impeachment. You had
serious debate throughout the
course of the 4 hours between
Republicans and Democrats.
Part of that committee was and
Johnson, a representative from
Houston on the Democratic side.
We’re going to start with her
comments and play through the
course of the afternoon.
>> Ken Paxton.
>> Broke the law.
>> Misappropriation of fighting
Jewel property. Which is a
state jail felony carrying 6
months to 2 years. And another
case of bribery carrying a
second degree felony of 2 to
20 years and abuse of official
capacity. What you have in this
case is triple hearsay. In most
cases it is hearsay within
hearsay. Within hearsay.
>> I’m not commenting on Mister
Paxson is guilt or innocence.
Rather the lack of credible
process. That is going on
today. You are not deciding
facts or law today.
You are simply deciding if this
matter. May proceed to trial.
You are simply deciding that
there are sufficient facts.
To go to trial.
Members. I respectfully ask
that you approve these
articles.
Send this to trial.
>> At the end of the day, 121
members voted for the
impeachment. Paxton only had
23 defenders on his side.
A dramatic margin of
difference. Not many people
expected to see that type of
differential at the end of the
day. So it is going to go to
trial. It’s going go from right
there in the House of
Representatives in Austin all
the way across the hall to now
a trial in the Senate. That
means you have a trial in which
it is very similar to a legal
system trial.
>> Ken Paxton, his attorneys
will come in present their case
and at the end of the day, it
will be the senator’s the state
senators for the state of Texas
who will decide his ultimate
fate as to what not. He will
be gone for good. His
impeachment forces Paxton out
of office for the time being.
The governor has yet to name a
replacement. That’s the very
latest here in Austin. Mario
Diaz, KPRC, 2 investigates.
>> Excellent reporting, Mario.
And we have a question for you.
Was Attorney General Ken Paxton
there.
Bill, great question. He was
not. And it’s intriguing
because throughout the course
of this process, he and his
team have been say we have not
had a chance.
>> To defend ourselves. We have
not had a chance to defend
ourselves. Get a news
conference late in the
afternoon yesterday. 04:00PM.
The attorney general, if you
recall, he just walked off
camera. He was never taking any
questions at all from the media
during the course of that news
conference. Those words plans.
As for today, he didn’t show
up Bill.
>> Marie also you are inside
the chamber. You’ve been there
for the last 2 days. What’s
your biggest takeaway from this
area?
>> The biggest takeaway here,
Bill was the margin of victory
for those that wanted to
impeach Paxton throughout the
course of the week. I spoke to
dozens of members and they told
me, listen, we can’t figure
out what’s really happening
here. The why the Y Y and many
people felt that it was too
close because Paxton did have
his supporters. But when they
laid out the entire case and
you heard the evidence,
according to the committee for
the House representatives, at
the end of the day, they
decided to vote. I believe in
the favor. They felt matter.
Obviously in the in the man and
the one in which they felt most
comfortable they made their
vote and it was a decisive
victory for those members of
the House representatives.
That to me was the biggest