Left: Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore, Right: Courtesy Photo / Texas Attorney General's Office
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (left) and Attorney General Ken Paxton: These handsome devils appear to have a financial relationship.
In yet another potential black eye to the upcoming impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state Senate, he owes $125,000 in outstanding campaign loans to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the man who will preside over the trial, the Houston Chronicle reports, citing campaign finance data.
Further, documents unearthed by the Chronicle show that Republican Sen. Angela Paxton, Ken Paxton's wife, owes $600,000 to her husband's campaign. What's more, he helped guarantee millions in additional funding for her, according to the report.
Neither Patrick nor Angela Paxton has indicated they plan to recuse themself from the Senate trial, scheduled to begin no later than Aug. 28.
At least one ethics expert who spoke to Chronicle said conflicts of interest are nearly impossible to avoid in impeachments because they're held in a political body rather than a court of law. However, Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told the paper that the size of the loans involved here creates bad optics.
"We don't want a situation where the public doesn't have faith that decisions by government officials are being made for the right reason," Bookbinder said. "And where there are significant loans that may or may not be outstanding, as far as the public is concerned, it certainly raises questions about whether there could be conflicts, whether decisions could be affected by these financial interests."
Paxton is facing 20 articles of impeachment, most centered around accusations that he took bribes and abused his office to help out Austin real-estate developer Nate Paul, a key campaign contributor. The Republican-controlled Texas House last month voted 121-23 for Paxton's impeachment and suspended him from duties.
Two-thirds of the 31 members of the Senate, also under GOP control, will need to vote to impeach Paxton for him to be finally removed from office.
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