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Ken Paxton Begins His Impeachment Trial With a Loss

The Republican-majority Senate refused to throw out any articles of impeachment ahead of trial.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was dealt a major blow on the first day of his impeachment trial, with the state’s Republican-majority Senate refusing to throw out any of the 20 articles of impeachment brought against him. Paxton filed a pretrial motion to have his charges thrown out before proceedings began, requiring senators to hold a vote Tuesday. Those votes gave the first indication of where senators stood ahead of trial, and the results didn’t bode well for Paxton, who’s accused of using his office to call in special favors for a big-bucks donor. The most support a motion received was 10 out of 30 senators—well short of the required majority vote needed, despite 19 senators being Republicans like Paxton. The votes mean Paxton’s impeachment trial will continue as scheduled. House impeachment managers, who gave their opening statements on Tuesday, are trying to convince at least 21 senators that Paxton should be removed from office.