A Houston lawyer who defended Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas against criminal charges, and represented him during his 2023 impeachment trial, has endorsed Mr. Paxton\u2019s Democratic opponent in the U.S. Senate race, James Talarico.<\/p>\n
The lawyer, Dan Cogdell, said Mr. Paxton had \u201clost sight of his core mission, which is to represent the people of Texas.\u201d Mr. Cogdell argued that Mr. Talarico prioritized \u201cunity over division\u201d and could bring together Democrats and some Republicans, and that \u201cwe need that right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Cogdell announced the endorsement on Monday in a podcast interview with Mr. Talarico<\/a> that was recorded last month \u2014 the day after Mr. Paxton won the Republican primary over Senator John Cornyn.<\/p>\n The support from Mr. Cogdell helped bolster a message that Mr. Talarico has pushed since Mr. Paxton\u2019s primary victory: that Republican voters who backed Mr. Cornyn would find \u201ca place\u201d in the Democratic candidate\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not interested in pitting people against each other,\u201d Mr. Talarico said in the podcast interview.<\/p>\n Mr. Cogdell made the maximum personal contribution allowed by law to Mr. Paxton\u2019s Senate run last year, according to campaign finance records. But he has since decided that the Republican candidate is too aligned with President Trump, he said in an interview with The New York Times on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just an absolute rubber stamp,\u201d Mr. Cogdell said.<\/p>\n Other members of Mr. Paxton\u2019s impeachment defense team quickly jumped in on Monday to support Mr. Paxton and argue that Mr. Cogdell was hardly a conservative firebrand.<\/p>\n \u201cI love Dan, but he is a Democrat, and he doesn\u2019t vote very much,\u201d State Representative Mitch Little, a Dallas-area lawyer elected to the Texas House after the impeachment trial, said on social media<\/a>. \u201cThis impeachment defense lawyer is 100% behind Ken Paxton.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesman for Mr. Paxton declined to comment, pointing instead to comments from other lawyers who had represented Mr. Paxton.<\/p>\n Mr. Cogdell was part of Mr. Paxton\u2019s defense team during the two-week impeachment trial in the Republican-led Texas Senate, in which Mr. Paxton was accused of corruption and abuse of office by Republicans in the Texas House. The Senate voted to acquit Mr. Paxton<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr. Cogdell also defended Mr. Paxton against accusations of securities fraud during a yearslong criminal case in Texas state court, helping to secure a deal for Mr. Paxton in 2024<\/a> that involved performing community service and paying $300,000 in restitution. Mr. Cogdell stressed at the time that the deal was not an admission of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t dislike Ken personally,\u201d said Mr. Cogdell, who describes himself as a political moderate. \u201cI stood behind the man for eight years.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cAs a criminal defense lawyer, I wouldn\u2019t probably endorse the vast majority of my clients, current or former, if they were running for Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n