WATCH LIVE: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton reacts to articles of impeachment

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Republican-led Texas House of Representatives has set a historic Saturday vote to possibly impeach embattled state Attorney General Ken Paxton and suspend him from office, just as some prominent conservatives began to rally around him.

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Paxton, a 60-year-old Republican, finds himself on the brink of impeachment after years of scandal, criminal charges and corruption accusations. The House will begin considering a resolution calling for Paxton’s impeachment at 1 p.m. Saturday, according to a statement released Friday by the House Committee on General Investigating.

If impeached, Paxton would be forced to leave office immediately. He would be just the third person in the state’s nearly 200-year history to be impeached and the first statewide officer since former Gov. James “Pa” Ferguson in 1917.

The GOP-led committee spent months quietly looking into Paxton and recommended his impeachment Thursday on 20 articles including bribery, unfitness for office and abuse of public trust.

Paxton has called it an attempt to “overthrow the will of the people and disenfranchise the voters of our state.” He has said the impeachment charges are based on “hearsay and gossip, parroting long-disproven claims.”

Prominent conservatives had been notably quiet on Paxton, but some began to rally around him late Friday morning. The chairman of the state Republican Party, Matt Rinaldi, criticized the process as a “sham” and urged the GOP-controlled Senate to acquit Paxton if he stands trial in that chamber.

“It is based on allegations already litigated by voters, led by a liberal speaker trying to undermine his conservative adversaries,” Rinaldi said, echoing Paxton’s criticism of Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan. He said the Senate will have to “restore sanity and reason for our state.”

First will come a vote in the House, where the committee proposed five hours of debate and opening and closing statements starting at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Paxton faces grim math in the House, where he served five terms before becoming a state senator.

It’s unclear how many supporters Paxton may have in the House. A simple majority is needed to impeach. That means only a fraction of the 85 Republican members would need to vote against Paxton, if all 64 Democrats did.

The move to impeach Paxton sets up what could be a remarkably sudden downfall for one of the GOP’s most prominent legal combatants, who in 2020 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory. The committee said Friday that it was Paxton’s own request for funds to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that brought it about. Paxton has been under FBI investigation for years over accusations that he used his office to help a donor. He was separately indicted on securities fraud charges in 2015, but has yet to stand trial.

When the five-member committee’s investigation came to light Tuesday, Paxton suggested it was a political attack by Phelan, accusing the speaker of being drunk on the House floor and calling for his resignation. Phelan’s office brushed this off as Paxton attempting to “save face.”

The articles of impeachment stem largely from Paxton’s relationship with one of his wealthy donors, his alleged efforts to protect the donor from an FBI investigation and his attempts to thwart whistleblower complaints brought by his own staff.

Unlike in Congress, impeachment in Texas requires immediate removal from office pending a trial. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott could appoint an interim replacement.

Final removal would require two-thirds support in the Senate, where Paxton’s wife’s, Angela, is a member.

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