‘Girlie you do not have to do this’: Photo of Ken Paxton’s wife contemplating her wedding ring during impeachment trial over affair prompts memes

Roxanne Werner, a communications employee for the Harris County Attorney’s Office in Texas, poked fun at a photo of Texas State Senator Angela Paxton (R-McKinney) contemplating her wedding ring during the impeachment trial of her husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“Girlie you do not have to do this. He is literally just a guy,” Werner posted.

“State Senator Angela Paxton looks down at her left hand with her wedding ring on it while her dusty husband’s affair is on public trial for everyone to see,” reads the alt text on the photo.

Paxton is on trial after eight of his top deputies reported him to law enforcement, suspicious that he was taking bribes. He was also accused of using the Texas Attorney General's office’s resources for his own benefit and to help facilitate an extramarital affair he’s alleged to have had. As a member of the State Senate, Angela Paxton is attending the trial but because of her conflict of interest won’t be voting on the outcome.

Central to the impeachment allegations is Paxton’s relationship with an Austin real estate investigator called Nate Paul. According to Texas House investigators, who referred the impeachment case to the Texas Senate, Paul chose targets for prosecution and even drafted subpoenas that Paxton then used to go after Paul’s business enemies, the Texas Tribune reported.

One motivation alleged by investigators for Paxton’s behavior was the fact that Paul gave the woman he’s alleged to have an affair with a job so she could move to Austin to be closer to him, the Texas Tribune reported.

The affair was common knowledge in Paxton’s office, according to interviews of Paxton’s top deputies, reported the Texas Tribune. One deputy told investigators that Paxton’s alleged mistress and Angela Paxton got into a confrontation over it at the Texas State Capitol. And Uber trip records filed by state investigators showed that Paxton used an Uber under the name “Dave P” to travel to both Paul’s house and to the home of the woman he's alleged to have had an affair with.

On Tuesday, Paxton’s former Chief of Staff Missy Minter Cary testified about learning about the affair, reported Fox 7 Austin. Cary said that Paxton and his wife met with the office together and Ken Paxton admitted to it. Angela Paxton was “sad and embarrassed,” according to Cary, and cried.

“My heart broke for her,” Cary said.

Some users on X, formerly Twitter, expressed sympathy for Angela Paxton.

“Whether or not she helped her husband in the past, this must be hard for his affairs to be entered into public record,” said @texas_gweilo.

“A guy who thought it was more important to detail his embarrassing misdeeds on the floor of the Capitol than resign with a modicum of dignity and sparing you the humiliation,” said @MonicaRichart, referring to Ken Paxton.

But not everybody was as sympathetic.

“Bonnie & Clyde Paxton are a team,” @M23412963 said. “I offer no sympathy for her choice to stay. But let's talk about her complicity in breaking the law. She knew.”

“Remember she drove the ‘getaway’ truck for him to avoid being served a subpoena,” said @Drwbdo, in reference to an allegation in a court record from a process server that the Paxtons evaded service for a different lawsuit filed against them at their home by fleeing in a Chevrolet truck.

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