(José Niño, Headline USA) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing renewed scrutiny in his Senate campaign after a Wall Street Journal report described his attendance at a Dubai New Year gathering with his girlfriend and two Americans who had been indicted on federal health care fraud charges and had not returned to the United States at the time.
WSJ reported that Paxton watched the arrival of 2025 from a luxury high rise near the Burj Khalifa with Tracy Duhon. Court records, people familiar with the matter, and video reviewed by the newspaper placed Anosh Ahmed and Sameer Suhail at the same event.
Ahmed, a health care executive, had contributed $190,000 to Paxton, according to campaign finance records cited by the WSJ. That total included a $25,000 donation made days after Ahmed’s indictment, the paper reported. Ahmed and Suhail have since returned to the United States to face charges. Ahmed remains in custody and has pleaded not guilty to the larger allegations against him.
Paxton adviser Nick Maddux did not directly address the Dubai gathering in a statement to the Journal. “Like President Trump, Ken Paxton has been politically persecuted for years, and every time, voters have seen through it and sent him back to office because they know he has always fought for Texas,” Maddux said.
The report arrived as Paxton seeks to stop his Democratic rival James Talarico from winning a statewide Texas race that Democrats have not won since 1994. Polling has shown a competitive contest rather than a settled result. An October UMass Lowell and YouGov survey found Paxton and Talarico tied at 45 percent, while a separate Siena poll released October 13 put Talarico ahead 48 percent to 44 percent.
WSJ’s account adds to a long list of controversies involving Paxton, including the 2023 Texas House impeachment and his later acquittal by the state Senate. He also resolved state securities fraud charges in 2024 through an agreement that included $300,000 in restitution, per the newspaper.
His campaign maintains that he has repeatedly survived attacks because Republican voters trust his record.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
