Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton spent New Year's Eve in Dubai with two men wanted for federal charges, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The WSJ reported that Paxton, his girlfriend, Tracy Duhon, and Anosh Ahmed and Sameer Suhail, both of whom were indicted months before on federal healthcare-fraud charges, rang in 2025 at a luxury high-rise in Dubai. Details of the report were contained in court filings and were confirmed by WSJ sources familiar with the matter.

As President Trump weighed endorsing Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn of Texas this spring, he was told that damaging revelations were likely to surface about Paxton, according to people familiar with the conversations. Trump was dismissive and said there would be more negative material about Democratic nominee James Talarico. Trump plowed ahead and endorsed the scandal-plagued Texas attorney general, helping him win the Republican-primary runoff in May.

Months later, that decision is looking like Trump's biggest gamble of the midterms. Despite efforts by Paxton to paint his opponent as a far-left zealot, Talarico consistently holds a narrow lead in polls, raising a once unthinkable possibility: A Democrat could win statewide office in Texas for the first time since 1994. Meanwhile, damaging revelations about Paxton continue to emerge. A new scene that could join the list: a previously unreported New Year's Eve 2024 celebration where Paxton partied in Dubai with two fugitives from U.S. justice and a woman who wasn't his wife.

As fireworks exploded over the Burj Khalifa skyscraper to welcome 2025, Paxton and his girlfriend Tracy Duhon watched from a luxury high-rise balcony full of people, according to a video of the gathering viewed by The Wall Street Journal, details of which were contained in court filings and confirmed by people familiar with the matter.

Journal (@WSJ) October 13, 2026The video provided by the WSJ shows Paxton, Duhon, Ahmed, and Suhail standing on a balcony as fireworks light up the Burj Khalifa.A federal court in Illinois indicted Ahmed and Suhail in 2024 for embezzling over $15 million from a Chicago hospital, the WSJ reported, citing court records and people familiar with the matter. Ahmed was also charged as being part of a larger scheme involving at least $195 million in alleged payments from the government for fraudulent COVID-19 tests.

He pleaded not guilty to the second charges. The WSJ noted that Ahmed donated up to $190,000 to Paxton, including $25,000 days after he was indicted. The pair did not return to the US after their indictments, but have since returned to face their charges. Ahmed's attorneys claim in court filings that he was abroad when he was first indicted, and that family health issues delayed his return. Suhail's attorneys said that civil matters in Dubai affected his return to the US.

What else has Paxton been accused of? The WSJ marks the latest in Paxton's string of controversies, some of which stretch as far back as 2008. In 2015, he was indicted for felony security charges mere months after he was sworn in as attorney-general. He was accused of encouraging investors to invest in tech company Servergy without disclosing he earned a commission. The case was resolved in March 2024. Paxton paid up to $300,000 in restitution, though he maintained his innocence.

In 2016, an anonymous employee accused him of bribery. Paxton leaned on donations totaling up to $329,000 from family and friends to pay his legal fees for the security fraud case. In 2020, Paxton filed a lawsuit with the US Supreme Court, arguing that the presidential election results needed to be overturned in four states. Paxton was nearly sued by the Travis County district attorney's office for refusing to turn over his communications from January 6.

He also appeared at the rally preceding the attack on the US Capitol. That same year, several aides in the Texas Attorney-General's Office reported him to the FBI, accusing him of abuse of office, bribery, and using his office to help a real estate developer. Paxton and the whistleblowers signed a $3.3 million settlement in 2023, but the settlement was later changed to $6.6 million paid for by the state. The whistleblower suit led the Texas House of Representatives to impeach Paxton by a vote of 121 to 23 in 2023.

Notably, 60 Republicans crossed the aisle to vote in a measure of no confidence against Paxton. He was later acquitted by the state Senate and returned to office later that year. In 2025, his ex-wife, State Senator Angela Paxton, divorced him after 38 years of marriage, citing adultery. This was after reports emerged of Paxton's extramarital affairs, including with Duhon. Talarico leads Texas polls as doubts grow over PaxtonThis comes as James Talarico holds a slight lead over Paxton in Texas's Senate race.

If Talarico wins the race, he will be the first Democrat to hold statewide office since the 1990's. Over the course of the race, Talarico has attacked Paxton's jet-set lifestyle.A party with multiple fugitives and Ken Paxton is still the sketchiest guy in the room.— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) October 13, 2026“A party with multiple fugitives and Ken Paxton is still the sketchiest guy in the room,” Talarico wrote in a post on X/Twitter in response to the article.

Talarico has also criticized Paxton over other trips during his tenure as attorney-general, citing reports from the Texas Tribune that stipulate that the attorney-general allegedly brought state-funded security details on his trips, which cost millions.“Working Texans are already struggling to afford the basics,” Talarico said in a news release, as reported by the Dallas Morning News.

“They don't need Paxton picking their pockets to fund his luxury vacations.”Paxton adviser Nick Maddux did not directly address the Dubai trip in a statement to the WSJ.“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 told WSJ.

However, some Republicans have noted their misgivings about Paxton.WSJ noted that before Trump endorsed Paxton in May 2026, Texas Sen. John Cornyn privately told Trump that several pieces of damaging information were likely to surface during the campaign season. Trump dismissed Cornyn's concerns and told him he believed that more damaging things would come out about Talarico. As it stands, Talarico holds about an average 2-3% lead on Paxton, according to polling from The New York Times.