Paxton Whistle-Blower David Maxwell Backs James Talarico in $6.6 Million Fallout
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 8
Paxton Whistle-Blower David Maxwell Backs James Talarico in $6.6 Million Fallout
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 8
Summary
David Maxwell, Ken Paxton’s former law-enforcement director, appears in a new online ad endorsing Democrat James Talarico in Texas’s high-stakes Senate race.
Maxwell says Paxton ended his five-decade public-service career after he reported alleged corruption, tying the endorsement directly to the whistle-blower dispute.
Those allegations — that Paxton abused his office to help a campaign donor under federal investigation — became central to his 2023 impeachment trial, where he denied wrongdoing and was acquitted by the Republican-led Texas Senate.
A judge last year awarded $6.6 million to Maxwell and three other former aides who sued after their dismissals, while Talarico has made Paxton’s impeachment and other controversies a core campaign theme.