Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick recently selected Justice Lana Myers to serve with him in the upcoming impeachment trial.
"Today, pursuant to the Rules of Impeachment adopted by the members of the Senate, I am pleased to appoint Justice Lana Myers to assist me during the upcoming impeachment trial which starts Sept. 5," Patrick said in an Aug. 28 news release. "Justice Myers is an extremely well-qualified candidate with courtroom experience as an attorney and a judge."
Patrick was a well known radio talk show host and television anchor before he was elected to serve in the Texas State Senate in 2006 and in 2010. Patrick is a voice for conservative policies and standpoints and often touches on issues of law enforcement, guns, religious freedom and abortion. He was elected as lieutenant governor in 2014, 2018 and most recently in 2022, according to his website.
Myers is a retired prosecutor and judge. She formerly served on the 5th Court of Appeals for the state of Texas and the 13-justice appellate court. Her duty in the impeachment case with Patrick will be to assist "on matters related to all rulings, orders, mandates, writs, questions of evidence and processes authorized by the rules of the court of impeachment," according to the Dallas Morning News.
Since May, republican Attorney General Ken Paxton faces 20 articles of impeachment set against him in cases accusing him of bribery, dereliction of duty and shielding one of his wealthy donor's from an FBI investigation, among other accusations, according to the Washington Post.
Paxton denies any such misconduct. His impeachment trial will take place in the Senate and is overseen by fellow Patrick and Myers. The trial may take several weeks, and if the Senate votes to impeach Paxton, he will be expelled from his position and unable to ever hold public office in Texas again.
Paxton graduated from Baylor University and earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He was elected into the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 70 in 2002 and into the Senate in 2012 to represent District 8, his website reported.
Paxton was elected as the 51st attorney general of Texas, taking office 2015 and being reelected again in 2018 and 2022. One of his biggest impacts was forming a unit to fight against the human trafficking happening throughout Texas, according to his website.
