KPF-013
Campaign money Ongoing
Paxton’s campaign said in July that he would “of course” debate James Talarico. By October he had accepted none of the four debate invitations Talarico accepted, while claiming his campaign had tried “for months.” Senate Republicans’ own super PAC backed his opponent in the primary over concerns about his legal and ethical record, then spent $131 million for him. FactCheck.org found two of his campaign’s ads misleading.
Event period — 2025–present Latest development — Oct. 12, 2026
KPF-042
Donors and favors Reported
Texas’s top law enforcement officer spent New Year’s Eve 2024 at a party in Dubai with two men who had been indicted months earlier on federal charges of stealing $15 million from a Chicago hospital and had not returned to the U.S. to face them, the Wall Street Journal reported. One of them had given Paxton $190,000, including $25,000 days after his indictment.
Event period — 2024–2026 Latest development — Oct. 12, 2026
KPF-043
Personal finances and legal trouble Ongoing
State Sen. Angela Paxton, married to Ken Paxton since 1986, filed for divorce in July 2025 on what she called “biblical grounds,” accusing him of adultery. In October 2026 she appeared in a super PAC ad urging votes for “the Republican ticket” without naming him. A Christian conservative group withdrew its endorsement of him after he declined to meet about the divorce, and he will not name his church.
Event period — 2025–2026 Latest development — Oct. 11, 2026
KPF-035
Abuse of office Reported
Since 2015, Paxton has taken nearly 1,000 trips with a state-paid security detail costing taxpayers $3.3 million, a ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation found. Records tie only 138 of those trips to state business. They include at least 17 trips while he was suspended in 2023, and there is no record that he or his campaign repaid any of it.
Event period — 2015–2026 Latest development — Oct. 9, 2026
KPF-001
Personal finances and legal trouble Resolved by agreement
A grand jury indicted Paxton in 2015 on felony charges that he recruited investors for a tech company without telling them he was being paid to do it. He served nearly nine years as attorney general under indictment, then paid $271,000 in restitution to the investors under a 2024 agreement that kept the case from going to trial.
Event period — 2014–2026 Latest development — Oct. 9, 2026
KPF-041
Campaign money Reported
Recordings from a Sept. 24, 2026 lunch with lobbyists on Capitol Hill caught Paxton saying he has less control over his campaign than in any race he has run, that cuts to “mandatory spending” are coming, and that Sen. John Cornyn “wants me to lose.” Publicly, his campaign has said Washington “has no business cutting” Social Security.
Event period — 2026 Latest development — Oct. 9, 2026
KPF-034
Campaign money Documented
The Federal Election Commission sent Paxton’s Senate campaign letters flagging about $883,000 in contributions that appeared to exceed legal limits or come from prohibited sources, and in July 2026 the campaign told the FEC it had refunded $17,500 in over-the-limit donations. Earlier, Paxton left $11,300 in state ethics fines unpaid while his own office was responsible for collecting them, paying only after reporters asked. In October 2026, Politico reported that a $250,000 donation to the main pro-Paxton super PAC was filed under a made-up name with a rented mailbox as the address.
Event period — 2024–2026 Latest development — Oct. 2, 2026
KPF-021
Abuse of office Ruled against
Paxton issued rules requiring district attorneys in the state’s largest counties to report case data to his office, with removal from office as a possible penalty. A judge blocked them, an all-Republican appeals court unanimously ruled he had no power to issue them, and in May 2026 a judge declared them invalid. Paxton appealed and lost again in October 2026.
Event period — 2025–2026 Latest development — Oct. 1, 2026
KPF-017
Retaliation and secrecy Judgment entered
Waco attorney Adam Hoffman was charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, a felony punishable by up to life in prison. After a hung jury in which seven of 12 jurors voted to convict, Paxton’s office offered him two misdemeanors with one day in jail and no sex-offender registration. The judge called the offer out (“One day. Seriously?”) and raised the sentence to 60 days. Hoffman was released after 29. Paxton later defended the deal by claiming Hoffman “served 60 days.”
Event period — 2022–2026 Latest development — Sept. 30, 2026
KPF-040
Campaign money Documented
Paxton and the super PAC backing him have spent millions on ads accusing his opponent of helping Chinese investors buy Texas land. A Hearst Newspapers review found Paxton’s campaign took $40,000 from donors who work for companies that facilitate that kind of Chinese investment, including a developer that solicits foreign investors for Texas housing and two former executives of a Chinese developer with a Communist Party branch.
Event period — 2025–2026 Latest development — Sept. 21, 2026
KPF-014
Personal finances and legal trouble Reported
A Texas Tribune and ProPublica review found that the financial disclosures Paxton filed as a Senate candidate appear to violate federal ethics law. He listed seven homes but no rental income, left out about $1.3 million in mortgages on Utah resort condos, and valued a 42-acre plot at no more than $50,000 when the county estimates its market value at $2.9 million. He also owes $4,551.77 in overdue property taxes and penalties on a Lahaina, Hawaii parcel held by his blind trust, and has paid late penalties on it in prior years.
Event period — 2026 Latest development — Sept. 18, 2026
KPF-039
Retaliation and secrecy Documented
In 2015, Paxton’s first year in office, his office issued an opinion letting Texas A&M withhold daily care logs and health records on dogs and cats used in research. The university had reported using 428 dogs and 15 cats in 2014, and federal records showed most tests on dogs in an earlier year caused “pain or distress.” Open-records experts called the reasoning, that the animals were owed veterinarian-patient confidentiality, a “terrible precedent.”
Event period — 2015–2026 Latest development — Aug. 20, 2026
KPF-030
Abuse of office Ruled against
Paxton’s office agreed to defend the Texas Medical Board against a lawsuit by Dr. Mary Talley Bowden over a reprimand tied to her COVID-19 treatment. It then withdrew and joined the case on the doctor’s side. The board said the office had “abandoned a client to switch sides in litigation,” and in late August 2026 a judge disqualified Paxton’s office from the case.
Event period — 2026 Latest development — Aug. 2026
KPF-032
Donors and favors Documented
Kalshi, the prediction-market company that lets people bet on sports, gave $5,000 to the super PAC backing Paxton, and on June 13, 2025, its CEO gave $7,000 to Paxton’s Senate campaign. Four days later, 34 attorneys general from both parties asked a federal appeals court to let states regulate Kalshi. Paxton didn’t join, and he has stayed out of every similar effort since, even as 37 to 44 of his colleagues signed on and his own party’s lieutenant governor pushed to close the loopholes Kalshi uses.
Event period — 2025–2026 Latest development — July 27, 2026
KPF-015
Personal finances and legal trouble Ongoing
Texas’s top law enforcement officer, who has made voter fraud a signature issue, voted in six elections over two years, including the 2026 primary and runoff that made him the Republican Senate nominee, using a Collin County address. A 2025 court filing said he moved out of that home in June 2024. Three election lawyers said this may violate Texas law, the same law his office warns voters about. A complaint asking for an investigation would, under current practice, be referred to his own office.
Event period — 2024–present Latest development — July 21, 2026
KPF-029
Donors and favors Reported
On June 10, 2026, Texas Tech Board of Regents Chair Cody Campbell gave $274,300 to one of Paxton’s joint fundraising committees. On June 11, Paxton’s office warned the Big 12 Conference that sanctioning Texas Tech over a quarterback who admitted betting on his own team’s games would be illegal and could cost the conference $200 million. Paxton’s campaign would not say whether the two were connected.
Event period — 2026 Latest development — June 11, 2026
KPF-018
Abuse of office Ruled against
Days after his Democratic opponent reported raising $2.5 million in 24 hours, Paxton’s office opened an undercover investigation of ActBlue, the platform Democrats use to raise money, and then sued it. A federal judge blocked the suit in June 2026, finding “overwhelming” evidence of bad faith and citing Paxton’s “well-known history of filing retaliatory lawsuits.”
Event period — 2026 Latest development — June 11, 2026
KPF-022
Abuse of office Reported
A ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation found Paxton filed at least 30 lawsuits in counties with little connection to the cases, including a Roblox suit in a county of about 200 people and 11 cases in Harrison County. In 2017 he told the U.S. Supreme Court that forum shopping undermines “confidence in the fairness and neutrality” of the courts.
Event period — 2017–2026 Latest development — May 20, 2026
KPF-023
Abuse of office Reported
Paxton’s office issued 102 news releases in the first four and a half months of 2026, peaking at 34 in the month before the primary, and announced lawsuits at twice the previous year’s pace. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day it issued an opinion nobody appears to have requested that attacked his primary opponent, and he dropped the state comptroller, who had voted to impeach him, as a client and called for his firing.
Event period — 2026 Latest development — May 16, 2026
KPF-028
Abuse of office Ruled against
When Texas House Democrats left the state in 2025 to block a new congressional map, Paxton asked the Texas Supreme Court to expel 13 elected lawmakers, something legal experts said had never been done for a quorum break. He also went after Beto O’Rourke’s political group. A judge blocked that effort, and the all-Republican Supreme Court later rejected the expulsion petitions.
Event period — 2025–2026 Latest development — May 15, 2026
KPF-036
Abuse of office Ruled against
Paxton sued the developer Colony Ridge in 2024, accusing it of deceptive marketing and predatory lending to Hispanic buyers. The $68 million settlement he announced in February 2026 put $48 million toward infrastructure and $20 million toward policing and immigration enforcement, and nothing toward the buyers. A federal judge refused to approve it because it gave victims no money.
Event period — 2024–2026 Latest development — April 14, 2026
KPF-020
Abuse of office Ruled against
Paxton sued Bexar and Harris counties to shut down programs that pay for lawyers for people facing deportation. A judge ruled he had no authority to sue Bexar County, an appeals court found the state had produced “no proof” of harm in Harris County, and Gov. Greg Abbott’s own brief faulted Paxton for rushing the case before his primary.
Event period — 2026 Latest development — March 24, 2026
KPF-019
Abuse of office Ruled against
Paxton tried to dissolve Jolt, a Latino civic group that registers young voters. In January 2026, a federal judge ruled he had offered no “plausible proof” of illegal voter registration, found he acted in bad faith, and said he was “harassing” the group and “fishing for reasons to investigate.”
Event period — 2026 Latest development — Jan. 29, 2026
KPF-026
Abuse of office Ruled against
Paxton’s office tried to force Sister Norma Pimentel, who leads Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, to sit for questioning, without ever filing a lawsuit. The charity had already turned over more than 100 pages of documents and a sworn statement. A Hidalgo County court refused in 2024, and an appeals court upheld that refusal in August 2025.
Event period — 2024–2025 Latest development — Aug. 4, 2025
KPF-012
Personal finances and legal trouble Reported
An Associated Press review of public records found that Paxton signed mortgage documents listing each of three homes, one in suburban Dallas and two in Austin, as his primary residence. That can mean lower interest rates, and knowingly making false statements on mortgage documents is a crime. No charges or investigation have been reported.
Event period — 2025 Latest development — July 24, 2025
KPF-003
Retaliation and secrecy Judgment entered
Four of Paxton’s senior aides reported him to the FBI in 2020 and were then fired. A judge ruled in April 2025 that the firings violated the Texas Whistleblower Act and ordered about $6.6 million in damages. Paxton dropped his appeal, and the money comes from the state, not from him.
Event period — 2020–2025 Latest development — July 2, 2025
KPF-007
Retaliation and secrecy Documented
Paxton spoke at the Jan. 6, 2021 rally in Washington that came just before the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The next day he claimed without evidence that antifa was responsible. His office then refused to release his messages from that week, and in 2025 the Texas Supreme Court let him keep them secret.
Event period — 2021–2025 Latest development — June 27, 2025
KPF-027
Retaliation and secrecy Ruled against
After Media Matters reported that big brands’ ads were appearing next to pro-Nazi posts on X, Paxton launched a sweeping investigation of the group. A unanimous federal appeals court upheld an order blocking it, finding Media Matters was likely the “target of a government campaign of retaliation.”
Event period — 2023–2025 Latest development — May 30, 2025
KPF-025
Retaliation and secrecy Ongoing
A 2025 lawsuit revealed that Paxton’s solicitor general and his litigation chief left the office in 2023 after sexual-harassment allegations by a staffer who worked on his impeachment defense. An internal email from his top deputy said one admitted the allegations and both were allowed to resign instead of being fired. The office gave no reason when they left.
Event period — 2023–2025 Latest development — May 27, 2025
KPF-004
Donors and favors Dismissed
Senior aides told the FBI in 2020 they believed Paxton had used his office to benefit donor Nate Paul. According to AP, federal prosecutors in Texas believed they had enough evidence to seek an indictment, but a Justice Department official in Washington decided in the final weeks of the Biden administration not to bring charges.
Event period — 2020–2025 Latest development — April 3, 2025
KPF-005
Personal finances and legal trouble Dismissed
The State Bar charged in 2022 that Paxton’s lawsuit to overturn the 2020 results in four states included dishonest statements and was filed in bad faith. Two courts let the case go forward. It ended in 2025 only after the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the attorney general’s office could not be disciplined this way, not because the charges were disproved.
Event period — 2022–2025 Latest development — Feb. 14, 2025
KPF-009
Abuse of office Ongoing
In August 2024, agents from Paxton’s office searched the homes of Latino Democratic activists and LULAC volunteers in South Texas, including an 87-year-old volunteer. LULAC called it voter intimidation. Grand juries later indicted 15 people; no convictions have been reported.
Event period — 2024–present Latest development — Aug. 26, 2024
KPF-008
Retaliation and secrecy Ruled against
In an 8–1 ruling, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that the law letting Paxton’s office prosecute election cases on its own violated the state constitution. Paxton responded by attacking the court and backing challengers who defeated three of the judges who ruled against him.
Event period — 2021–2024 Latest development — March 5, 2024
KPF-033
Donors and favors Documented
Weeks before presiding over Paxton’s 2023 impeachment trial, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick took a $1 million contribution and a $2 million loan from Defend Texas Liberty, the leading pro-Paxton PAC, and Paxton’s campaign still owed Patrick’s $125,000. The judge who kept Paxton’s sworn depositions sealed took $3,250 from his personal lawyer and that lawyer’s firm. And Paxton’s megadonors funded the PAC that ousted the appeals judges who had ruled against him.
Event period — 2018–2026 Latest development — March 5, 2024
KPF-038
Donors and favors Documented
In 2017, former Texas judge and Southern Baptist leader Paul Pressler was sued for allegedly sexually abusing a boy for years, beginning when he was 14. Paxton’s own campaign-finance reports show Pressler kept giving to Paxton after the allegations became public, and Pressler’s wife, also a defendant in the lawsuit, gave in 2022. In 2024, Paxton backed Pressler’s longtime law partner, who had testified to paying young men to work out of Pressler’s home despite repeated warnings, and appeared at his fundraiser.
Event period — 2016–2024 Latest development — Feb. 2024
KPF-002
Donors and favors Acquitted
In 2020, eight of Paxton’s own senior aides reported him to law enforcement, alleging bribery and abuse of office tied to donor Nate Paul. In May 2023 the Republican-controlled Texas House voted 121–23 to impeach him on 20 articles, including bribery. The Texas Senate acquitted him that September.
Event period — 2020–2023 Latest development — Sept. 16, 2023
KPF-006
Abuse of office Ruled against
In December 2020, Paxton asked the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out how Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin ran the presidential election. The Court refused to hear the case, ruling that Texas had no right to challenge other states’ elections, and no justice supported what he asked for.
Event period — Dec. 2020 Latest development — Dec. 11, 2020
KPF-037
Donors and favors Documented
When Empower Texans, part of the Tim Dunn and Wilks family political network, sued to strip the Texas Ethics Commission of its core oversight powers, Paxton declined to defend the state agency, which spent about $600,000 on private lawyers. Dunn, the Wilks family and their groups had given Paxton more than $2.85 million.
Event period — 2018–2023 Latest development — 2018
KPF-016
Personal finances and legal trouble Documented
In 2013, courthouse security video showed Paxton, then a state senator, taking a tray of pens from a metal detector at the Collin County courthouse. One was attorney Joe Joplin’s $1,000 Montblanc. The sheriff said Paxton put the pen in his pocket and returned it a day or so after a deputy called him. No charges were filed.
Event period — 2013–2014 Latest development — Aug. 14, 2013