AUSTIN, Texas — Claims of a coup. One of the state’s top leaders accused of acting like he had "a gun to his head." Tears. And plenty of explosive back-and-forth testimony.
Week one of the Ken Paxton impeachment trial is in the books -- and, if anyone was expecting a whimper, they were sorely disappointed.
“It's kind of like no trial I've ever seen because it has sort of the trappings of a criminal trial -- y'know, the quote, unquote judge, the jurors,” WFAA senior investigative reporter Tanya Eiserer said on this week's episode of Y’all-itics. “But in what trial do you have the jurors voting on motions like we had the first day? That doesn't happen. I mean, there's so many things.”
No, this isn’t an ordinary trial.
So far, it's mostly a political spectacle.
And, as former Republican State Representative Jason Villalba tells us after watching the first week of testimony, he thinks the suspended Attorney General is in “great peril.”
“The first thing that strikes me is that the conventional wisdom that we've seen all around the country -- being, y'know, this is a politically motivated witch hunt, and Ken Paxton will easily be acquitted of these charges, and he'll continue to serve as the AG -- I think we're seeing that dispelled in these early days,” Villalba said.
And we’re just scratching the surface, really.
In our special release Y’all-itics, Jason Wheeler is also joined by Ashley Goudeau, anchor and Managing Editor of Political Content at KVUE in Austin.
Together, our panel of experts takes a deep dive into the week’s developments -- and the legal, political and practical ramifications for Paxton and the State of Texas alike.