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Texas鈥� Republican-led House of Representatives impeached state Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday on articles including bribery and abuse of public trust, a sudden, historic rebuke of a GOP official who rose to be a star of the conservative legal movement despite years of scandal and alleged crimes.

Impeachment triggers Mr. Paxton鈥檚聽immediate suspension from office聽pending the outcome of a trial in the state Senate and empowers Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to appoint someone else as Texas鈥� top lawyer in the interim.

The 121-23 vote constitutes an abrupt downfall for one of the GOP鈥檚 most prominent legal combatants, who in 2020 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn President Joe Biden鈥檚 electoral聽defeat of Donald Trump. It makes Mr. Paxton only the third sitting official in Texas鈥� nearly 200-year history to have been impeached.

Mr.聽Paxton decried the move moments after scores of his fellow partisans voted for impeachment, and his office pointed to internal reports that found no wrongdoing.

鈥淭he ugly spectacle in the Texas House today confirmed the outrageous impeachment plot against me was never meant to be fair or just,鈥� Mr.聽Paxton said. 鈥淚t was a politically motivated sham from the beginning.鈥�

Mr.聽Paxton has been聽under FBI investigation for years聽over accusations that he used his office to help a donor and was separately indicted on securities fraud charges in 2015, though he has yet to stand trial. His party had long taken a muted stance on the allegations 鈥� but that changed this week as 60 of the House's 85 Republicans, including Speaker Dade Phelan, voted to impeach.

鈥淣o one person should be above the law, least not the top law officer of the state of Texas,鈥� Rep. David Spiller, a Republican member of the committee that investigated Paxton, said in opening statements. Another Republican committee member, Rep. Charlie Geren, said without elaborating that Mr.聽Paxton had called some lawmakers before the vote and threatened them with political 鈥渃onsequences.鈥�

Lawmakers allied with Mr.聽Paxton tried to discredit the investigation by noting that hired investigators, not panel members, interviewed witnesses. They also said several of the investigators had voted in Democratic primaries, tainting the impeachment, and that they had too little time to review evidence.

鈥淚 perceive it could be political weaponization,鈥� Rep. Tony Tinderholt, one of the House鈥檚 most conservative members, said before the vote. Republican Rep. John Smithee compared the proceeding to 鈥渁 Saturday mob out for an afternoon lynching.鈥�

Mr.聽Paxton is automatically suspended from office pending the Senate trial. Final removal would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, where Mr.聽Paxton鈥檚 wife鈥檚, Angela, is a member.

Representatives of the governor, who lauded Mr.聽Paxton while swearing him in for a third term in January, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on a temporary replacement.

Before the vote, Mr. Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz came to Paxton's defense, with the senator calling the impeachment process 鈥渁 travesty鈥� and saying the attorney general鈥檚 legal troubles should be left to the courts.

鈥淔ree Ken Paxton,鈥� Mr. Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, warning that if House Republicans proceeded with impeachment, 鈥淚 will fight you.鈥�

In one sense, Mr.聽Paxton鈥檚 political peril arrived with dizzying speed: The House聽committee's investigation聽came to light Tuesday, and by Thursday lawmakers issued聽20 articles聽of impeachment.

Rice University political science professor Mark P. Jones said the swift move to impeach kept Mr.聽Paxton from rallying significant support and allowed quietly frustrated Republicans to come together.

鈥淚f you ask most Republicans privately, they feel Paxton is an embarrassment. But most were too afraid of the base to oppose him,鈥� Mr.聽Jones said. By voting as a large bloc, he added, the lawmakers got political cover.

To Mr.聽Paxton鈥檚 longstanding detractors, however, the rebuke was years overdue.

In 2014, he admitted to violating Texas securities law, and a year later he was indicted on securities fraud charges in his hometown near Dallas, accused of defrauding investors in a tech startup. He pleaded not guilty to two felony counts carrying a potential sentence of five to 99 years.

He opened a legal defense fund and聽accepted $100,000聽from an executive whose company was under investigation by Mr.聽Paxton鈥檚 office for Medicaid fraud. An additional $50,000 was donated by an Arizona retiree whose son Mr.聽Paxton later hired to a聽high-ranking job聽but was soon fired after聽displaying child pornography聽in a meeting. In 2020, Mr.聽Paxton聽intervened in a Colorado mountain聽community where a Texas donor and college classmate faced removal from his lakeside home under coronavirus orders.

But what ultimately unleashed the impeachment push was Mr.聽Paxton's relationship with Austin real estate developer Nate Paul.

In 2020, eight top aides told the FBI they were concerned Mr.聽Paxton was聽misusing his office聽to help Mr.聽Paul over the developer's unproven claims that an elaborate conspiracy to steal $200 million of his properties was afoot. The FBI searched Mr.聽Paul鈥檚 home in 2019, but he has not been charged and denies wrongdoing. Mr.聽Paxton also told staff members he had an聽affair with a woman聽who, it later emerged, worked for Mr.聽Paul.

The impeachment accuses Mr.聽Paxton of attempting to interfere in foreclosure lawsuits and issuing legal opinions to benefit Mr.聽Paul. Its bribery charges allege that Mr.聽Paul employed the woman with whom Mr.聽Paxton had an affair in exchange for legal help and that he paid for聽expensive renovations聽to the attorney general's home. A senior lawyer for Mr.聽Paxton鈥檚 office, Chris Hilton, said Friday that the attorney general paid for all repairs and renovations.

Other charges, including lying to investigators, date back to Mr.聽Paxton鈥檚 still-pending securities fraud indictment.

Four of the aides who reported Mr.聽Paxton to the FBI later sued under Texas鈥� whistleblower law, and in February he agreed to settle the case for聽$3.3 million. The House committee said it was Mr.聽Paxton seeking legislative approval for the payout that sparked their probe.

鈥淏ut for Paxton鈥檚 own request for a taxpayer-funded settlement over his wrongful conduct, Paxton would not be facing impeachment,鈥� the panel said.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.