Texas House Speaker Accused of Being Drunk on the Job; Ken Paxton Asked Him to Resign

Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing a Texas House corruption investigation. The announcement about the investigation came Tuesday, just hours after the embattled Texas AG accused House Speaker Dade Phelan, a fellow Republican, of being drunk on the job.

Phelan was the one who announced that the House General Investigating Committee has been looking into "alleged illegal conduct" by Paxton. It is separate from the FBI investigation into the Texas AG over accusations of corruption by his former staff members.

According to the Associated Press, Phelan merely brushed off Paxton's accusations, with the Texas House Speaker saying that the embattled official just made the accusation "to save face."

However, the accusation into the House Speaker and the investigation into Paxton have jolted the Texas Capitol, as this showed the "raw divisions between Republicans who control every level of power in the state government."

Since April, several subpoenas have been issued by the committee for testimony and information to individuals and entities as part of its probe of Paxton's office.

The subpoenas issued Tuesday were for "John Doe No. 6" and, generally, to the Texas AG's office and were issued related to "Matter A," which means the matter could not be made public yet.

The committee has also issued a letter to Paxton's office and ordered them to preserve all evidence related to the investigation.

Ken Paxton Calls On House Speaker Dade Phelan to Resign

Ken Paxton has already released a letter calling for the Texas House Speaker to resign and for him to be investigated. It noted that while Dade Phelan was presiding over the Texas House, he was "in an obviously intoxicated state."

According to Yahoo! News, Paxton called for an investigation as this was a "violation of House rules, state law, and for conduct unbecoming his position."

The session in question might be during the May 19 House session, where Phelan was seen slurring and swaying at the podium. The video has since gone viral.

Divisions in Texas' Republican Party Shown With Ken Paxton's Accusation

Ken Paxton is currently being investigated for corruption by the FBI, and Dade Phelan claimed that the state's House of Representatives has been investigating him for months. That showed a growing divide among Republicans in the Lone Star State.

The Texas Tribune reported that Paxton is a staunch Donald Trump loyalist, even launching a doomed appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the 2020 presidential election based on unsubstantiated claims of the former president. On the other hand, Phelan is skeptical of Trump's hold on the party.

This feud stemmed from the settlement that Paxton agreed to last February after four former deputies claimed the Texas AG fired them in retaliation for reporting his alleged misconduct to federal investigators.

That settlement for a whistleblower lawsuit from the former deputies who had accused Paxton of misconduct was worth $3.3 million, and lawmakers from the heavily-Republican State House and the State Senate were not happy to use the taxpayers' money to pay for it.

Phelan has been very vocal about his opposition to having taxpayers shoulder Paxton's burden. Texas lawmakers have now drafted a budget prohibiting state funds from going toward the settlement.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Texas AG Ken Paxton Calls on Speaker Dade Phelan to Resign - From KVUE