Trump celebrates Ken Paxton impeachment acquittal — with a 9/11 meme

Former President Donald Trump congratulated Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton about his survival Impeachment proceedings.

Mr. Trump continued to write truth social: “I want to thank the great Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Dan Patrickwho served as a judge in the Ken Paxton trial, and the Republican state senators for their great professionalism and fairness.”

“Attorney General Paxton has been completely acquitted on all 16 articles of impeachment filed by the Texas Republican House. It is time for Speaker Dade Phelan to resign after pushing this shameful lie!” he added.

“Congratulations to Attorney General Ken Paxton on a tremendous and historic Texas-sized VICTORY. I also want to congratulate his wonderful wife and family for going through this ordeal and WIN!”

The former president also reposted a meme from a follower on Truth Social depicting the moment then-President George Bush was whispered to by White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card about the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on 9/11 September 2001 was informed.

The text reads: “You just acquitted Ken Paxton.”

The former president later wrote, “Congratulations to the great people of Texas and the state Senate for rejecting political persecution and respecting the integrity of our elections.” We should choose our elected officials by VOTING, not by choosing the government use as a weapon. This applies to banana republics and third world countries. Now Attorney General Ken Paxton can get back to work. He is one of the BEST!”

Mr. Paxton was acquitted on 16 counts brought before the state Senate.

A jury of 30 state senators, made up of 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats, voted Saturday morning to acquit Mr. Paxton of the articles accusing him of abuse of power, bribery and other charges.

Mr Paxton, who was elected attorney general in 2015, will now return to office after none of the articles received the two-thirds majority required for conviction.

The Texas House of Representatives impeached Mr. Paxton in May on 20 articles – four of which the Senate did not vote on Saturday, but were then rejected in a follow-up vote.

The impeachment effort stemmed from allegations by his former aides that Mr. Paxton abused his power to benefit himself and a Texas real estate investor. They claimed Mr Paxton gave the property investor special treatment in return for helping him finance home renovations and an extramarital affair.

In the Senate trial, prosecutors and defense spent nine days in the Senate chambers presenting evidence and testimony in a historic trial that sparked controversy among far-right conservatives.

Mr Paxton, an ally of Donald Trump, received support throughout the impeachment trial from right-wing politicians such as Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who claimed the trial was a “travesty” and “witch hunt”.

Mr. Trump supported Mr. Paxton, calling the impeachment “shameful” and accusing Texas “RINO” officials of pursuing the trial solely for political reasons.