Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing a fresh wave of ethics accusations following a Friday investigation from the Texas Tribune and ProPublica, adding yet another controversy to a political career already defined by scandal.
The joint investigation found that Paxton “appears to have violated federal ethics law in significant ways” when filing his recent disclosures of assets and liabilities, creating confusion about his true net worth and holdings, according to the report.
Among the most glaring issues: Paxton reported owning seven homes, six of which were listed for rent, yet claimed to have earned zero income from any of the properties. Reporters found tenants and neighbors at several of these addresses who confirmed the properties were, in fact, rented out, including a house in Florida, a condo in Austin, and a lodge in Oklahoma listed online for up to $1,200 a night.
Federal law also required Paxton to disclose mortgages on properties that are not his personal residence, but he failed to list $1.3 million in mortgages tied to three condos he owns at a luxury Utah golf resort.
The reporters additionally found that Paxton valued his stake in a vacant Texas lot at up to $50,000, even though his own business partner told them the share has actually been worth roughly $1 million for years.
Altogether, the investigation found Paxton had omitted roughly $5.2 million worth of properties from his disclosures.
Government watchdog Craig Holman offered a blunt assessment of the pattern.
“It reflects either pure sloppiness on Paxton’s part or a deliberate effort to conceal some of his investments and property holdings,” Holman said.
This isn’t the first time Paxton’s financial transparency has come under fire. He reportedly began including many properties on state disclosures only after Texas closed a loophole in 2024 that he had previously used to leave them off, despite most being acquired on a government salary of $153,750.
His newly filed federal disclosure reported a net worth between $1 million and $27 million, a dramatic jump from the negative $1.9 million to $11.1 million he reported just a year earlier.
Paxton, who won Trump’s endorsement in the GOP Senate primary over incumbent John Cornyn, now faces Democratic nominee James Talarico in the general election. The controversy adds to a mounting list of troubles that experts say have hurt his standing with voters, including a messy divorce and past impeachment battle.
Texas Politics Project director James Henson said the pattern reinforces long-standing questions about Paxton’s transparency. “It’s his choice how much he explains or doesn’t explain,” Henson said, “but I think that comes with a potential cost, and we’re seeing that in public opinion.”
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