The Republican-led Texas House General Investigating Committee heard unusual public testimony Wednesday from five veteran investigators who outlined about a dozen state crimes, including felonies, they believe Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) committed in connection with a whistleblower lawsuit. “That’s alarming to hear,” committee chairman Rep. Andrew Murr (R) said after the investigators ran through Paxton’s potential crimes. “It curls my mustache.”

What prompted the investigation?

The committee quietly started investigating Paxton in March after he announced a $3.3 million settlement with four former top aides he fired when they informed the FBI of potential crimes he had committed to aid donor and friend Nate Paul, enrich himself, and cover up an extramarital affair. The $3.3 million settlement would come from public funds approved by the Legislature, and House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) said in February he doesn’t “think it’s proper use of taxpayer dollars.” Murr agreed Wednesday, saying it’s “alarming” and “very serious” that Texans are being asked pay millions so Paxton can avoid a public trial.

The dramatic and “extraordinary public airing of scandal and alleged lawbreaking” at the Texas Capitol “plunged one of the GOP’s conservative stars into new political and legal risk,” testing “Paxton’s durability in a way he has not previously confronted despite a felony indictment in 2015 and an ongoing FBI investigation,” The Associated Press reported. It also “amounted to a remarkable rebuke from Republicans in a building where Paxton has long maintained defenders and allies, including [Gov. Greg] Abbott, who lauded Paxton while swearing him in to a third term in January.”

The House investigative committee’s “three Republicans and two Democrats have demonstrated they take this oversight role seriously” this session, even if the target is a Republican, The Texas Tribune noted. Earlier in May, the committee’s investigation of state Rep. Bryan Slaton (R) over sexual misconduct led to his resignation and expulsion.

Will Paxton be impeached?

The investigative committee could recommend that the House censure or impeach Paxton, or let the clock run out. “The trajectory of the committee leads only to impeachment,” a senior House staffer told KXAN News. “I would expect they’re going to move pretty quickly.”

Under Texas law, if two-thirds of the House votes to impeach Paxton, he would have to step down at least until the Senate holds a trial. The legislative session ends Monday, but the House would have some leeway to pursue impeachment charges after the session is over. 

Paxton “appears to have routinely abused his powers for personal gain and exhibited blatant disregard for the ethical and legal propriety expected of the state’s leading law enforcement officer,” a Phalen spokesperson said Wednesday. “Speaker Phelan stands in full support of the general investigating committee and the recommendations that may come as a result of their thorough and diligent investigation.”

How has Paxton reacted?

Paxton took aim at Phalen and the five prosecutors who spent four months poring over documents and interviewing witnesses. “It is not surprising that a committee appointed by liberal Speaker Dade Phelan would seek to disenfranchise Texas voters and sabotage my work as attorney general,” Paxton said in a statement Wednesday. “The false testimony of highly partisan Democrat lawyers with the goal of manipulating and misleading the public is reprehensible.” All five lawyers have deep ties to both parties and bipartisan résumés, The Texas Tribune noted.

On Tuesday evening, Paxton had roiled the Capitol by calling on Phalen to resign, accusing him of presiding over the House “in a state of apparent debilitating intoxication” Friday night and not passing enough conservative legislation. He repeated the allegation Wednesday on talk radio. Phalen’s office called Paxton’s accusation “little more than a last ditch effort to save face,” noting he issued his statement soon after the House investigative committee served his office subpoenas and ordered him to retain records for their investigation.

The question of whether Phalen was drunk or just exhausted after a 14-hour day is “pretty mild” compared to the allegations against Paxton, University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus told The New York Times. “I would say this is as detrimental and important a scandal as we’ve seen in Texas political history,” especially “because of how long it’s been going on and how Paxton has been able to survive it,” he added. “We’ve had some pretty serious malfeasance in Texas history.”