Media World Floored By WSJ’s Ken Paxton Dubai Party Bombshell: ‘Whoa Wow Oy!’

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

The media world reacted with a mixture of disbelief and mockery to a new bombshell report that Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton spent New Year’s Eve partying in Dubai with two men who were fugitives from U.S. justice, including one who had poured $190,000 into his political operation.

Extraordinary video of the alleged trip landed in a Monday report  from The Wall Street Journal examining Paxton’s conduct throughout his tumultuous race against Texas Senate campaign battles Democrat James Talarico.

According to the newspaper, Paxton attended a luxury New Year’s Eve celebration in Dubai on Dec. 31, 2024, alongside extramarital girlfriend Tracy Duhon, and Americans Anosh Ahmed and Sameer Suhail.

Both men had already been indicted in a federal health-care fraud case and had not returned to the United States to face the charges at the time of the gathering. Ahmed, a former Chicago hospital executive, was also charged separately in an alleged fraud scheme involving at least $195 million in government payments for bogus Covid-19 tests.

Campaign records reviewed by The Journal showed Ahmed gave Paxton $190,000, including a $25,000 contribution made just days after his indictment. Footage reviewed and published by the newspaper showed Paxton and Duhon watching fireworks over the Burj Khalifa alongside the group.

Ahmed and Suhail have since returned to the United States to face prosecution. Ahmed has pleaded not guilty to the additional charges and remains in custody.

Paxton adviser Nick Maddux did not directly address the Dubai gathering when approached by The Journal, instead complaining the candidate had been “politically persecuted for years.”

The rebuttal, however, did nothing to tamp down reactions to the report, which rapidly ricocheted through political media:

The Bulwark managing editor Sam Stein added the story to his “bingo card of Ken Paxton scandals”:

New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush replied simply: “Whoa wow oy!”

Jessica Tarlov, Fox News liberal pundit on The Five, alluded to Paxton’s previously reported trip to London over July 4th:

Others were quick to join in, stunned by the revelation:

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