The GOP-led Texas House of Representatives launched historic impeachment proceedings against Atty. General Ken Paxton on Saturday as the scandal-ridden Republican called on supporters to protest a vote that could lead to his impeachment and Donald Trump came to his rescue.

The House met on Saturday afternoon to discuss whether Paxton should be impeached and suspended over allegations of bribery, breach of public trust and unfitness for office. They are just a few of the allegations that have dogged the top Texas attorney for most of his three terms in office.

The proceedings are expected to include opening statements from the committee that investigated Paxton and recommended his impeachment, followed by four hours of debate and closing remarks before the vote.

The hearing marks what could be a remarkably sudden downfall for one of the GOP’s most prominent legal fighters, who in 2020 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to impeach the president.

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Biden’s electoral defeat of Trump. Only two officials in Texas’ nearly 200-year history have been impeached.

Paxton, 60, has called the impeachment process political theater, based on rumor and gossip, the parroting of long-disproved claims and an attempt to disenfranchise the voters who re-elected him in November. On Friday, he asked supporters “to come peacefully and make their voices heard in the Capitol tomorrow.

About an hour before the scheduled vote, several hundred people lined up to gain access to the House public gallery. Some wore Make America Great Again hats or handed out Paxton stickers to wear. But the queue was also a mix of tourists just curious to see the government in action.

Paxton has been under FBI investigation for years over allegations that he used his office to help a donor and was listed separately in 2015 on securities fraud charges, though he has yet to face trial. Until this week, his fellow Republicans took a muted stance on the allegations.

The Texas attorney general likely committed multiple felonies, a Republican inquiry finds

Impeachment only requires a simple majority in the House. That means only a small fraction of the 85 Republicans would have to join the 64 Democrats to vote against him.

If Paxton is impeached, he would be removed from office pending a Senate trial, and would fall to the Republican governor. Greg Abbott to appoint an interim replacement. Final removal would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, where Paxton’s wife, Angela, is a member.

The top elected Republicans in Texas were remarkably quiet about Paxton this week. But on Saturday, both Trump and US Senator Ted Cruz came to his defense, with the senator calling the impeachment process a mockery and saying the attorney general’s legal problems should be left to the courts.

Free Ken Paxton, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, adding that if House Republicans go through with the trial, I will fight you.

Abbott, who praised Paxton as he sworn him in for a third term in January, is one of those who have remained silent. The governor spoke at a Memorial Day service in the House Chamber about three hours before the scheduled start of impeachment proceedings. Dade Phelan, Speaker of the Republican House, was also present, but the two seemed to exchange few words, and Abbott left without commenting to reporters.

In a sense, Paxton’s political danger arrived with dizzying speed: The House Committee’s investigation into him came to light on Tuesday, and by Thursday lawmakers issued 20 articles of impeachment.

But for Paxton’s detractors, the rebuke was years overdue.

Texas Republican-led panel issues 20 charges against GOP attorney general

In 2014, he admitted to violating Texas securities law, and a year later was indicted on securities fraud charges in his hometown near Dallas, accused of defrauding investors in a tech startup. He pleaded not guilty to two felony counts that carry a possible sentence of five to 99 years.

He opened a legal defense fund and accepted $100,000 from an executive whose company was under investigation by Paxton’s office for Medicaid fraud. An additional $50,000 was donated by an Arizona retiree whose son Paxton was later hired for a high-ranking job, but was soon fired after displaying child pornography at a meeting. In 2020, Paxton intervened in a Colorado mountain community where a Texas donor and a college classmate had to be evicted from his lakeside home under coronavirus orders.

But what ultimately sparked the impeachment drive was Paxton’s relationship with Austin real estate developer Nate Paul.

In 2020, eight top employees told the FBI they were concerned that Paxton was misusing his office to help Paul with the developer’s unproven claims that there was an elaborate conspiracy to steal $200 million from his properties. The FBI searched Paul’s house in 2019, but he has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing. Paxton also told staff that he was having an affair with a woman who, it turned out, worked for Paul.

The impeachment accuses Paxton of interfering in foreclosure lawsuits and issuing legal opinions in favor of Paul. His bribery allegations allege that Paul employed the woman with whom Paxton was having an affair in exchange for legal help and that he paid for expensive renovations to the Attorney General’s home.

A senior attorney for Paxton’s office, Chris Hilton, said Friday that the attorney general paid for all repairs and renovations.

Other charges, including lying to investigators, date back to Paxton’s pending securities fraud indictment.

Four of the aides later reported Paxton to the FBI down south under Texas whistleblowing law, and in February agreed to settle the case for $3.3 million. The House committee said it was Paxton seeking regulatory approval for the payout that prompted their investigation.

But for Paxton’s own request for a taxpayer-funded settlement for his wrongful conduct, Paxton would not face impeachment, the panel said.

Bleiberg reports from Dallas.