Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears to have violated federal ethics law in significant ways when filing recent disclosures of his assets and liabilities, creating confusion about his net worth and holdings, a review by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found.
asserted
review → appear → ProPublica
Among them: Paxton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, reported owning seven homes but said he earned no income from any.
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he → report → any
Yet all but one was listed for rent during the reporting periods, and some current residents and neighbors at those addresses confirmed that the properties were rented, the news organizations found.
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organizations → list → addresses
Receiving income and not reporting it is a violation of federal disclosure law, three ethics experts said.
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experts → receive → law
Additionally, Paxton did not disclose mortgages for three condos at a Utah golf resort that federal law requires him to list as liabilities if they are not personal residences.
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they → disclose → liabilities
He also valued his stake in a vacant plot of Texas land at up to $50,000 on last year’s filing, but his business partner told the newsrooms Paxton’s share for years has been worth about $1 million.
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share → value → years
Federal financial disclosure law requires property to be listed at fair market value.
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law → require → value
The apparent errors and omissions the newsrooms found obscure the extent of Paxton’s income streams, assets and debt, making it difficult for voters to make sense of his finances as they mull whether to support him in November’s election, the ethics experts said.
“It reflects either pure sloppiness on Paxton’s part or a deliberate effort to conceal some of his investments and property holdings,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for the nonpartisan good-government group Public Citizen.
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Holman → find → group
If Paxton wins, an incomplete picture of his finances could prevent watchdogs from evaluating his conflicts of interest as a senator, Holman and others said.
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Holman → win → senator
Over three terms as attorney general, he has withheld financial information that could explain how he became a multimillionaire and had the resources to purchase more than a dozen properties in five states.
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he → withhold → states
He began including many of these on his state disclosures only after the Texas Ethics Commission closed a loophole in 2024 that Paxton had cited to leave them off.
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Paxton → begin → them
Most were acquired while Paxton earned a government salary of $153,750.
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Paxton → acquire → 153,750
In the new federal disclosure, filed in August after Paxton received a three-month extension, he reported a net worth between $1 million and $27 million.
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he → file → million
That is a significantly higher range than the negative $1.9 million to $11.1 million net worth he reported a year ago, before he had secured the Republican nomination but after he had declared his candidacy for federal office.
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he → report → office
The spike was driven not by Paxton’s acquisition of more assets but because the reported value on several of his properties soared.
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value → drive → properties
Paxton’s report omitted listing as assets seven properties worth about $5.2 million collectively, including the Utah condos for which he did not disclose mortgages.
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he → omit → mortgages
He co-
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He → co → ?
owns all of his known real estate holdings with his estranged wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, property records show.
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records → own → wife
The eight he reported are held by their blind trust, which is managed by a family friend.
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which → report → friend
Federal rules do not require candidates to report as assets personal homes or properties from which they don’t earn money, even if the properties are worth millions.
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properties → require → money
At a time when voters feel anxious about their own personal finances and dislike the idea of politicians getting rich in office, it would be wise for Paxton to be more transparent about his wealth, said Texas ethics and campaign finance lawyer Andrew Cates.
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Cates → feel → wealth
“If it were me trying to get people’s vote, I would err on the side of transparency rather than not,” Cates said.
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Cates → try → transparency
Paxton declined to be interviewed and did not answer detailed questions about how he filled out the disclosure forms.
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he → decline → forms
Madison Cercy, a spokesperson for his campaign, said Paxton “has had a long and successful career outside of public service, including running his own small business as a lawyer.
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Paxton → say → lawyer
Stirring up partisan allegations is nothing more than a bad attempt to manufacture controversy where none exists.”
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none → stir → controversy
Before being elected to the state Legislature in 2002, Paxton worked at a law firm in the Dallas area and was a corporate attorney for JCPenney.
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Paxton → elect → JCPenney
His state financial disclosure for 2001 listed assets totaling no more than $170,000, a ProPublica and Tribune analysis found.
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analysis → list → 170,000
By 2015, his household net worth had grown to $5.4 million, according to financial records lawmakers subpoenaed in 2023 after impeaching Paxton on charges that he took bribes in exchange for helping an Austin real estate investor.
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he → grow → investor
The records, few of which were admitted into evidence during the 10-day Senate trial that resulted in his acquittal, document how Paxton built a diverse portfolio that included investments in a cellphone tower, an HVAC company, a cement supplier and a police body camera manufacturer.
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that → admit → tower
He netted $2.2 million when Motorola acquired the body camera firm in 2019, according to his income tax return from that year.
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Motorola → net → year
Shortly after, he went on a real estate buying spree, snapping up six properties in Oklahoma, Florida, Utah and Hawaii.
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he → go → Oklahoma
His impeachment defense team said Paxton made a prudent shift toward real estate at a time of rock-bottom interest rates.
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Paxton → say → rates
Questions about Paxton’s integrity have dogged him in the race for U.S. Senate.
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Questions → dog → Senate
His opponent, Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, entered September with a narrow polling lead — uncharted territory in a state where Republicans have not lost a statewide race in 32 years.
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Republicans → enter → years
A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll released last week found that just a third of respondents viewed Paxton as “honest and trustworthy.”
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third → release → Paxton
The same day the statewide poll was published, a super PAC supporting Talarico hit the airwaves with an ad that labeled the attorney general as “the most corrupt politician in Texas.”
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that → publish → Texas
The commercial included a reference to Paxton’s recently disclosed net worth.
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commercial → include → worth
Talarico’s net worth, according to his most recent personal financial disclosure, was between $67,000 and $305,000.
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worth → accord → disclosure
The range changed little from the previous year.
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range → change → year
Like Paxton, Talarico did not include his single personal residence among his reported assets.
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Talarico → include → assets
…and 46 more, not listed.
