WASHINGTON — Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is borrowing a page from Republican Sen. John Cornyn’s playbook by condemning how the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Office handled a Waco child sex abuse case. Talarico is demanding that Paxton provide answers on why the case resulted in only a brief prison sentence for the defendant.
What You Need To Know
Like Republicans during the Senate primary, Democratic candidate James Talarico’s campaign is criticizing his opponent Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over his office’s handling of a Waco child sex abuse case that resulted in reduced charges and a short prison sentence after a mistrial
Talarico is demanding that Paxton release files pertaining to Adam Hoffman, who was accused of sexually abusing an 8-year-old boy for years
The assistant attorneys general said the deal was a “difficult decision” and “was made entirely in the best interest of the child involved,” and that the child “preferred to move on with his life” rather than testifying again in a second trial
The push to make the Justice Department’s files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein public united lawmakers across party lines in Congress. Now, Talarico, a Texas state representative from Round Rock, wants the same transparency from his opponent in the handling of a controversial plea deal with a Waco attorney accused of child sexual abuse.
“Those documents need to be made public immediately so Texans can get answers about this corrupt deal,” Talarico said last month, standing outside a courthouse in Waco. “If there’s anything that all Texans can agree on, Democrats and Republicans, progressives and conservatives. It’s that no one, not even the attorney general of Texas, should be able to cover up crimes against children.”
Former attorney Adam Hoffman was accused of sexually abusing an 8-year-old boy for years. In a deal with Paxton’s office, Hoffman pleaded guilty to reduced charges after a mistrial last year. Hoffman ultimately served 30 days behind bars.
Matthew Wilson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said the Talarico campaign is trying to strike at what is normally a strength for Republicans, which is being tough on crime.
“We know that there are significant elements of the electorate that have preexisting concerns about Paxton’s ethics and potential corruption, and so the Talarico campaign would like to tie this incident into that narrative,” said.
During the primary, even some fellow Republicans like state Reps. Jeff Leach and Pat Curry criticized Paxton for the deal. They held a press conference in May outside the Waco courthouse, calling for sweeping legal reforms.
“It is without question the most negligently, recklessly handled case that I’ve ever seen come out of the Attorney General’s Office,” Leach said.
Cornyn had a campaign ad attacking Paxton over it as they battled in the Republican primary earlier this year. The ad started off saying, “Why does Ken Paxton go easy on child predators?”
After losing the primary to Paxton, Cornyn said that while he stands by everything he said on the campaign trail, he supports the Republican ticket. Leach and Curry’s respective offices did not respond to requests for further comment, but Leach has since fully endorsed Paxton.
“This is why the really bruising Republican primary between Cornyn and Paxton was so helpful to the Democrats, because now Talarico can say, ‘Look, it’s not just me saying this, Republican Sen. John Cornyn had concerns about this,’ and that adds credibility,” Wilson said.
In a video that went viral on social media, Paxton did not answer repeated questions about Hoffman. Because Hoffman did not plead guilty to the original felony charge, he did not have to register as a sex offender in Texas.
In a letter, the assistant attorneys general said the deal was a “difficult decision” and “was made entirely in the best interest of the child involved” and that the child “preferred to move on with his life” rather than testifying again in a second trial.
In a statement to Spectrum News, Paxton’s campaign spokesperson said, “Every time James Talarico chooses to bring this case up he is intentionally re-traumatizing the child victim for personal gain. OAG prosecutors have already released information on this, but Talarico cares more about turning a child victim into a political pawn than the truth. The bottom line is that we stand with the child victim, who in this case did not wish to testify again and be forced into the same room as his abuser.”
By calling to release the Hoffman files, Talarico’s campaign is trying to turn a controversial criminal case into a broader argument about transparency and accountability as the Senate race heats up.
“This is going to be a nasty and bitter campaign, and that a lot of what we’re going to be talking about down the stretch is not issues and public policy, it’s going to be personal attacks from the candidates against each other’s character, ethics, personality, etc, and I think this is just one salvo in that kind of fight,” Wilson said.