TEXAS — According to multiple reports, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and state Sen. Angela Paxton have agreed to unseal their divorce records, after having been compelled to do so by several news outlets, who formed a coalition with media watchdog organizations and sued to make the records publicly available.
Sen. Paxton filed for divorce in July citing “biblical grounds” as the reasoning for the petition and accusing her soon-to-be ex-husband of adultery. A judge in Collin County, where the petition was filed, had sealed the files.
The coalition claimed that because both Paxtons are elected officials that the documents may contain information on finances and conduct that the public would have a right to know.
AG Paxton is running for U.S. Senate in an attempt to defeat longtime GOP Sen. John Cornyn, with the primary coming in March. He initially asserted that the attempt to unseal the records was an invasion of his personal life, but both his and Sen. Paxton’s attorneys have signed off on the unsealing.
The order to unseal will still need to be approved by a judge, and a hearing on the unsealing will take place on Friday.