In May, Mr Paxton, a Donald Trump ally, was suspended from working in elected office.

Mudslinging politicians and their powerful benefactors could not bury the truth, Paxton said.

The state Senate cleared him of 16 counts.

More than 60 Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives impeached the state’s top lawyer in May on charges of corruption, obstruction of justice, bribery, and abuse of public trust.

Only two Republicans voted to remove him from office on any of the counts in the state’s Senate, which is also dominated by the party.

According to the charges, he provided favours to a Texas real estate developer, used public funds to punish whistleblowers and cover up their allegations, and provided benefits to a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has always denied any wrongdoing and called the impeachment a “sham”.

In Texas, Mr. Paxton is Donald Trump’s most ardent supporter, supporting the former president’s unsuccessful bid to overturn his loss in 2020.

As a result of the impeachment, the Republican Party was divided between pro-Trump factions and more traditional conservative groups.

Trump posted “free Ken Paxton” on his social media site Truth Social shortly after the attorney general was impeached and called the effort “election interference” by “radical left Democrats”, criminals, and insufficiently loyal Republicans.