The judge overseeing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s divorce has ordered the case records sealed from public view, shielding future filings from scrutiny in a case drawing widespread political interest.
Judge Ray Wheless, a Republican who serves as the regional administrative judge for North Texas, issued the order Friday. He was assigned to the case after the original judge, Jill Renfro Willis, recused herself. While Willis did not cite a reason, she and her husband, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis, are longtime acquaintances of the Paxtons.
The sealing order, issued July 11, came the same day state Sen. Angela Paxton’s attorney filed a motion requesting the records be withheld from public disclosure.
Angela Paxton, who represents Collin County in the Texas Senate, filed for divorce last week after nearly four decades of marriage, citing adultery. In a post on the social media platform X, she said she was ending the marriage on “biblical grounds” and had previously attempted reconciliation.
The divorce comes less than a year after Ken Paxton was acquitted in a high-profile impeachment trial stemming from allegations of corruption and abuse of office. House investigators had accused Paxton of providing favors to a campaign donor who allegedly employed the woman with whom Paxton was having an extramarital affair and helped fund renovations at the couple’s Austin home.
The impeachment charges, filed in May 2023, led to Paxton’s temporary suspension but he was reinstated after the Texas Senate acquitted him in September.
The attorney general is currently running in the Republican primary against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a fellow Texas Republican.
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