Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has called on fellow Republican state House Speaker Dade Phelan to resign over alleged drunkenness, but the speaker’s office said Mr. Paxton is trying to divert attention from an investigation by the Legislature into his purported misconduct.
The feud within the state’s Republican Party boiled over this week when Mr. Paxton accused Mr. Phelan of presiding over the state House “in an obviously intoxicated state” during a session on May 19. The attorney general called for an investigation into the incident.
“Texans were dismayed to witness his performance presiding over the Texas House in a state of apparent debilitating intoxication,” Mr. Paxton wrote in a statement posted on Twitter on Tuesday. “His conduct has negatively impacted the legislative process and constitutes a failure to live up to his duty to the public.”
He urged the Legislature’s General Investigations Committee to open an investigation into Mr. Phelan “for violation of House rules, state law, and for conduct unbecoming his position.”
A 44-second video of Mr. Phelan presiding at the speaker’s podium while slurring his words went viral. But his allies noted that he was talking normally before and after the clip, The Texas Tribune reported.
After Mr. Paxton raised his accusations against the speaker, a state House committee revealed it was investigating Mr. Paxton’s office over his push for $3.3 million in state funds to settle a whistleblower lawsuit from former deputies who accused him of misconduct.
“The motives for and timing behind Paxton’s statement … couldn’t be more evident,” Phelan spokeswoman Cait Wittman said in a statement. “Mr. Paxton’s statement … amounts to little more than a last-ditch effort to save face.”
The House Committee on General Investigating heard testimony in the Paxton case Wednesday. The committee also directed Mr. Paxton’s office in a letter to preserve all evidence related to the probe.
The letter informed Mr. Paxton that the committee “has been conducting an investigation related to your request for $3.3 million of public money to pay a settlement resolving litigation between your agency and terminated whistleblowers,” according to The Tribune.
Mr. Paxton reached a $3.3 million settlement in February with four former deputies who alleged they were fired in retaliation for reporting his alleged misconduct to federal investigators. The Legislature has resisted authorizing state funds to pay for it, and Mr. Phelan said it would not be a “proper use of taxpayer dollars.”
Mr. Paxton has been embroiled in ethics issues previously, including an indictment in 2015 for alleged securities fraud. He has denied wrongdoing.
“Of all the elected officials in Texas to cast stones … it’s the guy with pending felony charges,” tweeted Rep. Gene Wu, Houston Democrat, in response to Mr. Paxton’s statement calling on the speaker to resign.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.