🧵THREAD: Texas begins the historic effort at 9 a.m. to remove from office AG Ken Paxton, a Trump ally and champion for conservatives, amid multiple scandals that include allegations of abuse of office to help a donor in exchange for a home remodel and a job for his mistress. 1/5 This morning, in what could be an opening dramatic moment, Senators will consider multiple Paxton motions to dismiss 16 impeachment articles against him, which would require 16 Senate votes. Some leading non-Senator Republicans have urged a fact-finding trial. 2/5

NEW: The 20 impeachment articles against Texas AG Ken Paxton list a multiple allegations such as misuse of official information, disregard of official duty, and bribery citing a deal with Nate Paul for him to employ his mistress. Notably, @statesman covered many of these in 2020. Our original story in which whistleblowers made the allegations: statesman.com/story/news/loc…

NEW: Months after the Uvalde shooting, amid demands for transparency, multiple Texas lawmakers have gotten confidential information by signing non-disclosure agreements with the Texas DPS -- a highly unusual extension of secrecy in a case of utmost public importance. (1/4) The six lawmakers risk a fine of $1,000 if they violate the agreements. Some served on investigative committees and say the documents were key to their inquiry. Others say the records will help them draft bills for the Legislative session in January. (1/4)

NEW: Four Uvalde victims were still alive when they were pulled from the classroom May 24, raising whether any could have survived by a faster response. As the investigation turns to that question, an Austin doctor is leading a team to study victims' survival chances. (1/4) Teacher Eva Mireles, who called husband after being shot, died in an ambulance in the Robb Elementary parking lot, new information shows. One child died in Hondo on the way to a San Antonio hospital. Two children died at Uvalde Memorial Hospital. (2/4)

JUST IN: A Texas House report in the Uvalde shooting widely condemns an army of federal, state and local police, extending far beyond a lack of clear command by schools police chief Pete Arredondo. Officers described the scene as a chaos, but still failed to act. (1/3) The report says,"The entirety of law enforcement and its training, preparation, and response shares systemic responsibility for many missed opportunities that day." It says "hundreds of responders from numerous agencies" had active shooter training and could have done more. (2/3)

BREAKING: A rifle-armed Uvalde officer sighted in to shoot the Robb Elementary attacker before he entered the school but instead waited for supervisor permission -- one of many new revelations in a report obtained today by national experts about the May 24 police response. 1/4 The report by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training cites 3 missed chances to slow the gunman before he entered the building. It says officers who tried to stop him in the classroom "lost momentum" after taking fire as more weapons, including tear gas arrived. 2/4

BREAKING: In the strongest terms possible, the head of the Texas state police has just condemned the law enforcement response in Uvalde, calling it an "abject failure and antithetical to everything we have learned over the past two decades." Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw says teachers -- not law enforcement -- should be praised for their actions one month ago today. He said police had enough firepower and protection to act far faster than they did. Teachers worked quickly to lock the school down and save lives.

🧵THREAD 🧵: Public release of videos, 911 calls and other evidence from the Uvalde shooting could provide the most accurate account of that terrible day, but there are obstacles that we Texas journalists often call the "dead suspect loophole" that could get in the way. 1/4 Under state law, police agencies may hide an investigative file unless a person is convicted. Over the years, journalists have revealed cases where — stunningly — families could not learn circumstances of a loved one dying in police custody because he was never convicted. 2/4

BREAKING: Most of the 19 students who were killed were in one 4th grade classroom where the gunman barricaded himself, DPS communications chief Travis Considine tells @statesman and @KVUE. He provided the following sequence of events: (1/4) The gunman shot his grandmother at her home, which is also his registered address. He then went a short distance to the school and crashed his truck. A neighbor called 911, reporting that an armed man went into the school. A Uvalde school police officer exchanged fire. (2/4)

BREAKING: As many as 18 Austin police officers now face possible indictment from actions in the May 2020 George Floyd protests as a grand jury probe nears finality. The number is more than prosecutors previously disclosed and stem from 12 uses of 'bean bag' munitions. (1/4) More than 30 protestors went to the hospital with injuries such as head trauma and broken bones. Attorneys for officers say police faced threats including objects thrown at them. But representatives of protestors say they did nothing to prompt the force against them. (2/4)

NEW: Former Williamson County Deputies J.J. Johnson and Zach Camden, charged with manslaughter in Javier Ambler's death, will be in court today for likely an extensive in-person hearing on what the destruction of "Live PD" video capturing the incident means to their case. (1/4) Their attorneys argue that because prosecutors have not turned the footage (which they never got) over to the deputies' defense, jurors at their trial should be instructed about the one-time existence of the video and consider it favorable to Johnson and Camden. (2/4)

BREAKING: The FBI has now charged an 18-year-old Texas National Guard member in the Beth Israel synagogue fire in Austin. An unsealed criminal complaint includes racist and anti-Semitic entries from his personal journal. Franklin Sechriest already was facing state charges. (1/3) Agents also said they found stickers in his Jeep that said: “They hate your culture…They hate your religion…They hate your children. It’s OK to hate them back.” The document said that soon before the Oct. 31 fire, he wrote in his journal “Scout out a target.” (2/3)

NEW: Hundreds of people participating in the #atxkind “Rally for Kindness” after a series of recent racist and anti-Semitic events in Austin. “None of us is safe unless all of us is safe,” @RepLloydDoggett said. “This is a community that welcomes every family.”

EXCLUSIVE: Austin Mayor Steve Adler told the public to "stay home if you can...this is not the time to relax" in a Nov. 9 Facebook video. He did not disclose that he was at a timeshare in Cabo San Lucas after flying on a private jet with eight family members and guests. The Mexico trip with family came the day after Adler hosted a small wedding for his daughter at a trendy South Congress Hotel with 20 attendees. Adler says he consulted with health authorities prior and that guests had to undergo COVID-19 testing and practice social distancing.

BREAKING: Seven top aides, including his first assistant, have asked federal authorities to investigate Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for multiple crimes that include bribery and abuse of office, according to a letter obtained today by @statesman and @KVUE. The request is a stunning development in an agency that prizes loyalty to Paxton, a Republican who is already under indictment on state securities fraud charges. The letter does not specify the allegations or described Paxton's alleged conduct.

NOW: DAs Shawn Dick and Margaret Moore starting their press conference on indictments of Sheriff Robert Chody and another county official. Dick says he was bound by law to take issue to grand jury; He says jurors heard from 19 witnesses.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Williamson County sheriff’s deputies say the agency rewarded “good” uses of force with steakhouse gift cards, and one revealed to Texas Rangers that deputies in the death of #JavierAmbler received them. The former deputy, Chris Pisa, did not link Ambler’s case to the cards, according to audio we obtained. But he said the department expected deputies to be “Wilco Badass.” Pisa is also under investigation for a 2019 force case.

EXCLUSIVE: A Williamson County grand jury is considering evidence tampering charges against Sheriff Robert Chody, crews from "Live PD" and anyone else possibly involved in the destruction of video in the death of #JavierAmbler. Multiple deputies confirm being called to testify. Chody has hired prominent Austin defense attorney Gerry Morris to represent him. Morris had no comment. Experts say possible charges include evidence tampering and that prosecutors must prove that whoever destroyed the video knew it was needed for an investigation.

NEW: Residents in a Williamson County apartment complex called 911 because of a possible domestic violence incident. When deputies arrived, they attacked the victim. The September 2019 incident, captured on video, is now under investigation by the Texas Rangers and prosecutors. Footage shows Deputy Lorenzo Hernandez, a training officer, used force on the 20-year-old woman after she hesitated for deputies to enter her home to search for her boyfriend. The woman was handcuffed and taken to the ground, videos show, and threatened with a Taser.

NEW: In November 2017, Williamson Sheriff Robert Chody swore in his newest deputy who only three days earlier quit the Austin police force to avoid a firing. An investigation found Mark Luera used a TSA badge to sneak his family and friends past security for a flight to Cancun. Since his hiring, Luera has been a department star on "Live PD," and Chody has called him "a true leader." Chody last year changed his promotion standards for the rank of lieutenant to fit Luera's credentials.

BREAKING: APD Chief Brian Manley says Garrett Foster had multiple gunshot wounds. The person who shot Foster called 911 to report that someone had pointed a gun at his vehicle and that he fired. Manley says Foster had AK-47 and that it appears as though Foster pointed gun at car. Detective are reviewing "precise actions" of those involved. Investigators are coordinating with Travis prosecutors, and two people have been released "pending further investigation." A 2nd person who fired at car also has been released pending investigation, Manley says.