Ken Paxton Reportedly Partied in Dubai With Fugitives Wanted in U.S.

AP Photo/Eric Gay, File

Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton reportedly rang in the new year in Dubai alongside two men facing federal criminal charges in the United States, adding another controversy to his campaign as he struggles to fend off Democratic challenger James Talarico.

According to a Monday report from The Wall Street Journal, the Texas attorney general attended a lavish New Year’s Eve celebration in Dubai on December 31, 2024, with his extramarital girlfriend, Tracy Duhon, and two Americans who had been indicted months earlier in a federal healthcare fraud case.

The men, Anosh Ahmed and Sameer Suhail, were accused of stealing $15 million from a Chicago hospital, where Ahmed served as chief financial officer. Neither had returned to the United States to face the charges at the time of the New Year’s gathering.

Ahmed, who was additionally charged in a separate, larger fraud case involving at least $195 million in alleged government payments for bogus Covid-19 tests, also had financial ties to Paxton.

Campaign finance records reviewed by the Journal revealed that Ahmed contributed $190,000 to the Republican, including a $25,000 donation made just days after his indictment.

The celebration took place in a luxury high-rise overlooking the Burj Khalifa, where Paxton and Duhon watched the midnight fireworks alongside other guests, according to footage reviewed by the newspaper and posted on social media above.

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

Paxton’s senior adviser Nick Maddux did not specifically respond to questions about the Dubai gathering, instead defending the candidate’s record.

“Like President [Donald] 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 the Journal.

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