Texas AG Paxton Faces Report on Trust Investment and Files OpenAI Suit in Senate Race
Photo: The New RepublicTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in a tight race against Democrat James Talarico, is in the news for two separate developments: a report on a $600,000 trust investment and a lawsuit he filed Friday against OpenAI. The Texas Tribune, citing previously unreleased records from Paxton's 2023 impeachment investigation, reported that a trust presented as blind put the money into a construction materials business run by home builder Scott Sherman, who pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud in 2014. The records indicate the trust did not shield Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, from its business dealings. Sherman's companies sent the couple money, described as thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, while tax debts mounted. Paxton was investigated by the legislature and acquitted. In the lawsuit, filed in Collin County district court, Paxton accuses OpenAI of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by lying about risks to users. He seeks an injunction requiring the company to block minors, court-appointed third-party approval of new models, and civil penalties of $10,000 per violation.
The right-leaning Washington Examiner covers only the OpenAI suit. It leads with the filing, quotes Paxton's office on a "litany of harms," and lists the requested remedies. It also suggests the suit could appeal to voters wary of AI, and it does not mention the trust story. The left-leaning New Republic covers only the trust investment. Its headline stresses ties to a convicted fraudster and it quotes Paxton's past anti-fraud statement and ethics lawyer Richard Painter. Both sides identify Paxton as the Senate nominee facing Talarico, but they share no other facts. Independent ProPublica largely matches the left, adding detail on Sherman's companies and unpaid local taxes.
How the sides differ Right sources cover only Paxton's lawsuit against OpenAI and its campaign timing; left and alternative sources cover only the $600,000 trust investment in a convicted fraudster's company.
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The New Republic leads with the Tribune-reported $600,000 trust investment in a convicted fraudster's company. It contrasts Paxton's anti-fraud statements and features ethics lawyer Richard Painter.
ProPublica details the $600,000 investment from a supposedly blind trust into Sherman's business, drawing on impeachment-investigation records and noting unpaid local taxes and payments to the Paxtons.
The Washington Examiner covers Paxton's OpenAI lawsuit, quoting his office and listing the relief sought. It frames the suit as possibly aimed at voters skeptical of AI in the Senate race.