The Texas House has tapped two high-powered Houston attorneys — Dick DeGuerin and Rusty Hardin — to lead the prosecution of impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton during his upcoming Senate trial.. Abbott taps former Sec. of State John Scott for interim AG as Paxton awaits impeachment trial
Their selection Thursday bolstered the House’s prosecution team as it prepares for the high-stakes trial, which will be scheduled some time before Aug. 28. A Senate committee will meet June 20 to set trial rules and a date. Senators will decide whether to permanently remove Paxton from office. Hardin said Thursday that the overwhelming vote in the Republican-dominated Texas House showed that “what is right and what is just should rise above party.” The 20 articles of impeachment against Paxton exhibit a “pattern of misconduct and abuse of the office,” he said.
DeGuerin was also hired by University of Texas System Regent Wallace Hall, whom the Texas House in 2014 chose to admonish and censure, rather than impeach, for misconduct and incompetency.