BUILT FOR THE INVESTIGATION
ALLEGATIONS. ACQUITTALS. SETTLEMENTS. JUDGMENTS.
Ken Paxton is Texas’ 51st attorney general and the 2026 Republican nominee for the United States Senate. Before taking statewide office in 2015, he served in the Texas House and Senate. Supporters point to his lawsuits against Democratic presidential administrations, technology companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and other powerful institutions. Any objective account of his career must also address the legal, ethical, financial, and personal controversies that have followed him through public office.
Questions surrounding Paxton’s financial conduct began well before he became attorney general. In 2008, reporting found that he had invested in a company receiving state contracts while voting for spending bills that funded those contracts. Paxton said he did not know the company had state contracts. In 2014, he consented to a Texas State Securities Board order finding that he violated state law by soliciting investment clients without being properly registered. The board reprimanded him and imposed a $1,000 administrative fine. Associated Press reporting and Texas State Securities Board order.
In 2015, a grand jury indicted Paxton on two felony securities-fraud charges and one charge of failing to register with state securities regulators. Prosecutors alleged that he encouraged investors to purchase stock in Servergy Inc. without disclosing that the company was compensating him with shares. Paxton denied wrongdoing. In 2024, shortly before trial, he entered a pretrial agreement requiring approximately $271,000 in restitution, 100 hours of community service, and 15 hours of legal-ethics instruction. He did not enter a guilty plea or admit wrongdoing, and the charges were dismissed after he completed the agreement. Texas Tribune.
In 2020, eight senior employees in Paxton’s office reported him to the FBI, alleging bribery, abuse of office, and misuse of government resources to assist Austin real estate developer and campaign donor Nate Paul. The allegations included claims that Paxton intervened in legal matters affecting Paul, authorized an outside attorney to investigate Paul’s complaints, and used his office to provide Paul with preferential assistance. Paxton denied the allegations and characterized the investigation as politically motivated.
Those allegations eventually led the Republican-controlled Texas House to impeach Paxton by a bipartisan vote of 121 to 23 in May 2023. The 20 articles included allegations of bribery, abuse of public trust, retaliation against whistleblowers, misuse of public resources, obstruction, and false statements. The Texas Senate considered 16 articles and acquitted Paxton on all of them in September 2023. The remaining four were dismissed. He returned to office and was not criminally convicted as a result of the impeachment proceedings. Texas Senate impeachment record.
The federal corruption investigation also ended without charges. In the final weeks of the Biden administration, the Justice Department decided not to prosecute Paxton after concluding that securing a conviction was unlikely. Paxton described the decision as confirmation that the investigation had been baseless. The former employees who reported him continued to stand by their allegations. ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.
The related whistleblower case produced a different outcome. In 2025, a Travis County judge found by a preponderance of the evidence that Paxton’s office violated the Texas Whistleblower Act by retaliating against four former senior employees. The court awarded them a combined $6.6 million. Paxton initially criticized the ruling, but his office later dropped its appeal, leaving the State of Texas responsible for the judgment. Texas Tribune.
Following the 2020 presidential election, Paxton asked the United States Supreme Court to invalidate election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The Supreme Court rejected the case because Texas lacked standing to challenge how other states conducted their elections. The State Bar of Texas later accused Paxton of professional misconduct and making dishonest representations in the filing. The disciplinary case was dismissed in 2025 following a Texas Supreme Court decision involving Paxton’s deputy and separation-of-powers concerns. The dismissal did not establish that Paxton’s underlying election allegations were true. Texas Tribune.
Paxton has also faced continuing questions about financial transparency. In 2024, public-record reporting found that Paxton or his blind trust owned 10 properties in five states, while only one appeared on his most recent personal financial statement. Ethics experts said the omissions appeared inconsistent with state disclosure requirements. Paxton denied violating the law and called the matter a manufactured controversy. He also accumulated more than $11,000 in penalties for filing late campaign-finance reports before paying the fines. KUT and The Texas Newsroom and Texas Tribune.
Questions about Paxton’s personal conduct became part of the public record during the impeachment proceedings, when witnesses discussed an alleged extramarital affair and claims that Nate Paul helped Paxton conceal it by employing the woman involved. In 2025, Paxton’s wife, Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce and formally accused him of adultery. Ken Paxton denied the allegation in court. Personal allegations are not criminal findings, but they have drawn scrutiny because of Paxton’s public emphasis on traditional marriage and family values. KUT.
In July 2026, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune reported that Paxton appeared to have voted in six elections using a Collin County address where he no longer lived. Texas law generally requires voters to register where they reside, and Paxton’s own office has warned that misrepresenting a residence on election records may be illegal. Paxton’s campaign said he was fully compliant with Texas law and called the report a partisan attack. A complaint requesting an investigation has been filed, but no court or agency has determined that Paxton committed voter fraud. Texas Tribune and ProPublica.
Paxton has never been convicted of a crime. He was acquitted in his impeachment trial, the Justice Department declined federal prosecution, his securities charges were dismissed after he completed a pretrial agreement, and the professional-discipline case ended without sanctions. At the same time, the securities-board reprimand, restitution agreement, impeachment, whistleblower judgment, disclosure questions, personal allegations, and unresolved voting-residency controversy remain documented parts of his public record.
From the courthouse to the Capitol, Ken Paxton has built a career around demanding accountability from powerful people and institutions. Whether he has consistently accepted that same standard for himself is now a question for Texas voters.
ACCOUNTABILITY STARTS WITH KNOWING WHAT HAPPENED.
The allegations are public. The judgments are public. The acquittals and dismissals are public too. Texans deserve the complete record, not merely the campaign version.
Ken Paxton would not like you to do your own research. Please do not Google any of the following:
Because Ken Paxton thinks you’re dumb and will believe any of his lies. It worked with Trump and he plans to make it work for him too.