Ken Paxton used $3.3 million in taxpayer funds for nearly 1,000 trips

An investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune has revealed that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken nearly 1,000 out-of-state trips since 2015, costing taxpayers approximately $3.3 million. The report indicates that only 138 of these trips—roughly one in six—could be linked to official state business.

Paxton, who is currently a candidate for the U.S. Senate, traveled to 36 states and 19 countries, often accompanied by a state-funded security detail. The cost of his security detail is reported at $24,000 per month, significantly higher than the $7,400 monthly cost incurred by his predecessor, Greg Abbott.

Specific travel included trips to Florida, Hawaii, and Utah, where Paxton’s family trust owns properties. While his office defended the expenditures by citing security threats from cartels and violent criminals, critics and former officials have questioned the ethics of using taxpayer-funded security for trips that lack documented business purposes.