A former top aide for Ken Paxton, President Donald Trump’s pick in the Texas Senate race, has appeared in a campaign ad to endorse the Republican’s Democratic rival.
David Maxwell served as the Texas attorney general’s director of law enforcement until 2020, when he was fired after coming forward with damning allegations that formed the center of Paxton’s impeachment trial.
Maxwell is now appearing in a campaign ad for James Talarico, who is up against Paxton in one of the most closely watched and vital Senate races in November’s midterms, to blast his former boss.
“Ken Paxton ended my five-decade career because I blew the whistle on his corruption,” Maxwell said in the ad. “I am supporting James Talarico for the U.S. Senate.”
Paxton was impeached by his own party in 2023 after being accused of a string of corruption, bribery, and obstruction-of-justice allegations while serving as Texas’ top lawyer.
This included claims that Paxton used his power to intervene in an investigation into real estate investor Nate Paul, whom Paxton was accused of receiving bribes from. Paul is also alleged to have given a woman Paxton was having an affair with a job at his business in Austin so she could move to the Texas city and be closer to the attorney general.
During Paxton’s impeachment trial, Maxwell testified that he told Paxton that “Nate Paul was a criminal. He was going to get himself indicted.”
The Texas Senate acquitted Paxton on all 16 articles of impeachment against him.
Multiple Republicans have expressed fears that the constantly embattled Paxton will torpedo the GOP’s chances of retaining what is usually a solid-red Texas Senate seat in November.
Even after being acquitted of the impeachment allegations, Paxton continues to be dogged by numerous scandals, including even more corruption allegations and his wife filing for divorce last year on “biblical grounds” after rumors of an affair surfaced.
If Talarico beats Paxton, it would go a long way toward helping Democrats flip the Senate.
Maxwell, a former Texas Ranger, said he has never publicly endorsed a candidate before but feels it is now necessary to oppose Paxton.
“I’m a lawman—I’m not a politician,” he told The New York Times. “I’ve never asked a crook whom I was investigating if he was a Democrat or a Republican.”
Earlier this year, defense lawyer Dan Cogdell, who represented Paxton during his 2023 impeachment trial, also announced he is endorsing Talarico in the Texas Senate race.
