Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton is accused, in a Wall Street Journal report cited by multiple outlets, of attending a New Year’s Eve party in Dubai alongside two indicted U.S. fugitives and his girlfriend. The accounts say Paxton appears in video footage surveying Dubai fireworks next to Tracy Duhon, while Sameer Suhail and Anosh Ahmed are also present.
Suhail and Ahmed were indicted by federal authorities in 2024 on health care fraud-related allegations, including claims involving large-scale embezzlement and the sale of faulty COVID-19 tests to the government. The outlets report that both men spent time outside the United States after their indictments, and that Paxton’s campaign did not provide a clear explanation for the trip. Paxton’s campaign responds that, like President Donald Trump, Paxton has been the target of political persecution, and emphasizes his record in Texas. The controversy is reported to arrive in the final weeks of Paxton’s Texas Senate race against Democrat James Talarico, with polling cited as showing Paxton trailing.