MAGA Star Hit With Bombshell Allegations After Wife's Biblical Divorce Drama
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his estranged wife Angela declared three separate homes as their primary residence in mortgage documents, allowing them to lock in improperly low lending rates, the Associated Press reported.
They also allegedly double-dipped on a tax break for primary residences and listed two other investment properties as vacation homes on the mortgage applications.
Interest rates on mortgages for primary homes are much lower than the rates for secondary homes or investment properties, allowing the couple to potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars with the false statements, The New York Times reported.
It's a federal and state crime to knowingly make false statements on mortgage documents.
The Paxtons did not respond to The New York Times or the AP's request for comment. The Daily Beast has reached out as well.
The couple have long resided in a $1.5 million home in a gated community in the Dallas suburbs, according to the AP. That house is in the district that Angela, a state senator, represents. It's also where Ken Paxton—who is challenging incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the 2026 Republican primary for U.S. Senate—said he lived until recently.
Angela announced earlier this month that she's leaving Ken, a staunch Christian conservative and anti-abortion crusader who confessed to carrying on a years-long affair.
'I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation,' she wrote in a social media post. 'But in light of recent discoveries, I do not believe that it honors God or is loving to myself, my children, or Ken to remain in the marriage.'
Besides the Dallas home, the couple—who have four children and five grandchildren—also own two rental properties in Austin, a rental property in College Station, Texas, and a fourth rental property in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, the AP reported.
On mortgage documents, they listed the Dallas home and the two Austin properties as their primary residences. They also collected a homestead property tax break on both the Dallas home and one of the Austin properties—a home worth $1.1 million—that is only supposed to apply to the primary residence.
They rent out the College Station home even though the mortgage says the property is for the Paxtons' exclusive use and cannot be rented out.
And the Broken Bow home—a luxury five-bedroom cabin—is available for rent on Airbnb even though the $1.2 million mortgage, which is in Ken Paxton's name, stipulates that it can't be rented out.
The findings are ironic given that President Donald Trump has accused his political adversaries—including California Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney Letitia James—of mortgage fraud based on far less serious circumstances, according to the AP.
Last month, Paxton told reporters, 'I hope that if [James] has done something wrong, I hope that she's actually held accountable.'
Conveniently, Ken Paxton's office is the primary agencies tasked with investigating allegations of mortgage fraud, making him unlikely to face much legal trouble in Texas, the outlet reported.
He has already weathered several scandals over the years. In 2015, he was indicted for securities fraud and paid a $300,000 settlement deal to avoid a criminal trial.
Then in 2023, he was impeached by the Republican-controlled state House over accusations of corruption and abuse of power connected to his affair, though the state Senate acquitted him.
His wife sat out the vote.
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USA Today
13 minutes ago
- USA Today
Women's history museum has been a long time coming. Congress is trying again.
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The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Senate GOP quietly urges House to shift approach on shutdown talk
Senate Republicans say President Trump has made it clear that he doesn't want a government shutdown, and they're urging House GOP lawmakers to tone down their approach to the Sept. 30 funding deadline. House Republicans jammed Senate Democrats in March with a partisan funding bill, which Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) reluctantly voted for to avoid a shutdown. But the political dynamics are different now. Schumer is under heavy pressure to fight harder against Trump and his MAGA-allies, heightening the chance of a shutdown if Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) tries to use the same playbook. 'I know that our side won't want a shutdown, Trump hates that and rightly so,' said a Republican senator, who requested anonymity to discuss conversations with the White House. The senator said 'the fate of the approps bills' to fund the government in fiscal year 2026 will be the focus of the GOP conference before it leaves for a four-week August recess. A second Republican senator who requested anonymity said that Trump, who dined with Senate Republicans at the White House recently to celebrate the passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, has made it clear to his allies on Capitol Hill that he wants to avoid a shutdown in the fall. The president is focused on landing trade deals and touting the accomplishments included in the massive tax and spending package Congress passed before July 4. This is a big reason why Senate Republicans have sought common ground with Democrats on the annual appropriations bills, hoping to put behind them the bruising partisan battles over the reconciliation bill and a measure that clawed back $9 billion in PBS, NPR and global aid funding. The senator said that higher spending levels in the Senate appropriations bills offer a 'better path' to avoiding a government shutdown in the fall because they are less likely to provoke opposition from Democrats. The Senate's Interior and Environment appropriations bill for 2026, for example, provides $41.45 billion in total funding, including $3.27 billion for the National Park Service and $6.17 billion for the Forest Service. It passed out of committee with overwhelming bipartisan support, 26 to 2. The House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies bill, by comparison, provides $38 billion in funding, which is $2.9 billion below the level enacted in 2025. It also includes 72 controversial policy riders that would restrict the issuance of rules to protect sage grouse, prohibit the implementation of an updated public lands rule and dictate the timing of offshore and onshore fossil-fuel extraction leases. The House measure passed out of committee on a partisan 33-28 vote. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, complained last week that bipartisanship has been 'thwarted' on the House side. 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'I think [Democrats are] going to be under an enormous amount of pressure come fall, which is why … we need to do everything we can – House Republicans, Senate Republicans, President Trump and his team – to … set it up for success, to keep the government up and funded,' Thune said. 'And then … Chuck Schumer … what's he going to do? Is he going to bow to the Democratic base, or do the responsible thing and keep the government open? That's the decision,' he added. A Democratic senator who requested anonymity to comment on discussions within the Democratic caucus said that Schumer is coming under heavy pressure from liberal colleagues to insist on a bipartisan funding stopgap. And they're urging him to reject any partisan funding measure akin to what the House jammed the Senate with in March. 'We all want to pursue a bipartisan, bicameral appropriations process. That's how it's always been done successfully and we believe that should happen. However, the Republicans are making it extremely difficult to do that,' Schumer told reporters after meeting with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) last week to discuss strategy. Asked what he would do if the House sent another partisan continuing resolution to the Senate shortly before the funding deadline, Schumer said: 'We're for a bipartisan, bicameral bill. That's what's always been done. The onus is on the Republicans to make that happen.' Senate Republicans have heard that message loud and clear and they want to avoid sticking Trump with a shutdown in the fall. An element of the Senate Republican strategy is to pass several of the regular appropriations bills for fiscal year 2026 before the end of September to promote a sense of optimism that Republicans and Democrats can work together to fund the government. GOP senators hope that, in turn, would reduce the temptation for the House to simply send to the Senate a stopgap funding measure that cuts deeply into Democratic priorities, as Johnson did in March, and dare Schumer to shut down the government. By passing a few spending bills this week or in early September, Senate negotiators would be in a better position to insist that House GOP leaders meet them halfway. The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday, 90 to 8, to proceed with its version of the military construction and Department of Veterans Affairs Appropriations bills. Thune is trying to attach to that measure a bill funding the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration and another funding the departments of Commerce and Justice, science programs and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Thune tried to attach the legislative branch appropriations bill to the package but Sen. 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The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Collins looks to navigate Trump, funding landmines as 2026 looms
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is feeling the squeeze as she navigates a series of political landmines that put her at odds with President Trump and many of her own colleagues. Collins this summer voted 'no' on two of Trump's biggest priorities: the GOP's mammoth tax and spending bill and a measure to claw back money Congress had already appropriated. She also opposed several of the president's high-profile Cabinet nominees. Her vote on the rescissions measure only complicated her next difficult task: shepherding government funding legislation to Trump's desk as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee — her longtime dream job that she finally secured earlier this year. And hovering in the background is next year's midterms, when she is expected to seek a sixth term in a seat Democrats are eyeing as a key pickup opportunity. 'Give me one senator who would trade her position,' said Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), a top ally of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and an Appropriations panel member. He answered his own question: 'None.' Collins has long been a one-of-one member in the conference, as the foremost centrist from a blue state that GOP leadership has had to juggle as part of a membership that has trended more MAGA throughout the years. But while that balance has always been tough, it has perhaps never been more difficult than it is right now. Collins is in the midst of a high-stakes effort to fund the government by the end of September, one that was complicated by the GOP's bill to rescind public media and foreign aid funding. Even though Collins voted against the bill, as the chief GOP negotiator she still has to deal with the fallout as Democrats warn the measure poisoned the well and left them with little incentive to work with Republicans. The Maine Republican appears to have the train on the bipartisan tracks — for now. The Senate is hopeful to pass a three-bill appropriations package — known as a 'minibus' — to fund the Departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Commerce and Justice by the end of the work period, but lawmakers readily acknowledge that this is a high-wire act. 'She's got a tough job,' said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito ( an appropriator. 'I think it's really tough. The whole Congress is fractured on spending.' 'Nobody wants that job right now. … It's not Robert Byrd's Appropriations Committee,' Capito continued, referring to the powerful former West Virginia Democrat who served three stints atop the panel. Amid all of it, Collins must also eye her looming reelection bid next year in the only remaining GOP seat in a blue state, and one Democrats are anxious to flip. Multiple Senate Republicans indicated to The Hill in recent weeks that they fully expect her to move forward with a campaign. They're also praying that she does as they readily admit the seat is gone if she decides to opt against another term. 'She's the only person that can win,' Thune recently told The Hill while laying out their sales pitch for her to move ahead with a campaign. 'She has a really hard job because she's in a conference composed largely of people who represent states that are very different from hers,' Thune said. 'But I do think there's a compelling argument to chair the Appropriations Committee, get it working again and to me that would be a pretty powerful rationale for running.' Polls show a muddled picture for the five-term moderate. A recent survey taken by Morning Consult shows her favorability at only 38 percent, with 54 percent disapproving of her performance — a 16-point difference. However, Maine-based Pan Atlantic Research unveiled a poll last month showing that her favorability remains above water. Despite the tumult and uncertainty, Collins maintained that she doesn't feel the walls closing in on her. 'I've been here a number of years. I've been through many high-pressure events,' Collins told The Hill. 'That's the nature of the job if you're in a leadership position or if you're representing your constituents.' Collins is in a strong fundraising spot, having raked in $2.4 million between April and June. She also has $5.2 million on hand. Perhaps more notable at this point is that Democrats continue to struggle to find a candidate who is willing to take her on. The party is largely pinning their hopes on Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D), 77, taking the plunge, but she has shown few signs of being gung-ho about challenging Collins. Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), a former Collins staffer, also declined to take her on and is expected to seek reelection to the House next year instead. Democrats are also still licking their wounds from 2020 when Collins trailed Sara Gideon for much of the cycle after being outspent heavily, only to end up winning by 9 percentage points. Notably Trump, who has made clear his dissatisfaction with those who've opposed his agenda, hasn't trained his fire on the Maine senator. Collins, meanwhile, is making clear she doesn't need any help from the White House. 'I've never had his endorsement and I've never sought it,' she recently told Semafor. 'And I run my own race.' In the meantime, Democrats are hoping to tether Collins to the GOP's 'big, beautiful bill' and the bill to claw back funding, even though she opposed both measures. They specifically point to her vote to open debate on the bill days before she voted against final passage due to the law's impact on Medicaid beneficiaries and rural hospitals in the Pine Tree State. 'Susan Collins is facing record low approval ratings in Maine because when push comes to shove, she will always have the backs of Donald Trump and Washington Republicans, not Mainers,' said Tommy Garcia, a Maine Democratic Party spokesperson. 'In the past month alone, Collins refused to use the power she likes to campaign on to stop devastating cuts to rural broadcast stations and cast a pivotal vote to green light Medicaid cuts.' Even amid the rough-and-tumble stretch, Republicans are maintaining their confidence in her to make it through unscathed. 'She keeps it all together,' said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), likening her to Wonder Woman. 'If you're going to take her on, you better come really well prepared.' 'Even at that,' he continued, 'you're probably not prepared enough.'
