Ken Paxton’s Impeachment Lawyer Endorses James Talarico for Senate

Even the Texas attorney general's former allies are voting blue this election

Photo: James Talarico for Texas

In an unusual development in the Texas Senate Race, one of the lawyers who defended Attorney General Ken Paxton during his countless legal battles has abandoned his former client to instead endorse Democrat James Talarico — offering a stunning reminder of the Republican candidate’s unparalleled corruption.

Three years ago, Dan Cogdell, a veteran Houston-based defense attorney, helped spearhead Paxton’s legal defense throughout his 2023 impeachment trial and securities fraud case — keeping his client in office and out of jail.

Now, he’s warning Texans about the risks of electing Paxton to federal office. As someone who knows the attorney general better than anyone, voters should take note of what he has to say.

“I defended Ken Paxton for years in the impeachment trial and in state criminal cases. But in my view, respectfully, I think Ken has lost sight of his core mission, which is to represent the people of Texas,” the lawyer said on his podcast on Monday.

“I believe to my core, James, that you believe in unity over division and that you know how to assemble not only Democrats, but independents and Republicans, and we need that right now.”

Before this stunning announcement, Cogdell had remained one of Paxton’s most reliable allies for over a decade. When Paxton was first indicted on felony securities fraud charges in 2015 — in which he was accused of illegally soliciting investors during his campaign for attorney general — Cogdell and the rest of his legal team managed to settle the case with an insultingly generous pretrial agreement.

Under the deal, Paxton only had to agree to take an ethics course and complete a brief period of community service, all without entering a guilty plea. In other words, he got off scot-free for white collar crimes that should have marked the end of his career.

Another five years later, after a group of whistleblowers reported Paxton to the FBI — this time alleging his involvement in a quid-pro-quo scheme involving a local real estate investor — the Texas attorney general’s reputation had become so tarnished that a bipartisan group of state representatives voted to impeach him in 2023.

During the resulting trial, where Paxton was conveniently acquitted by the judge whose campaign he helped fund, Cogdell was once again right there by his side.

This election, however, that relationship is all in the past.

“I worked my ass off for the man for nine years,” Cogdell explained to reporters at the Associated Press. “[But] my obligation to Ken ended at the courthouse steps, and my obligation as a citizen is to do what I think is the right thing.”

Cogdell expanded on his decision by pointing to education and health care, which he believed his former client would undermine as another one of Donald Trump’s ghoulish sycophants. “To simply bootlick or rubber-stamp Trump, that’s not what we need in DC right now,” he added.

For the past decade, Dan Cogdell defended the indefensible — but this year, not even he can stomach sending his former client to the U.S. Senate. It’s a fitting reminder that this election transcends typical partisan politics, as voters will finally have the opportunity to reject the petty corruption holding our country hostage.

“If you’re a Republican tired of the corruption you’re seeing in government, you have a place in this campaign; Even if you’re Ken Paxton’s impeachment lawyer, you have a place in this campaign,” James Talarico told supporters after receiving word of the unexpected endorsement.

“We are building a people-powered movement that welcomes Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike.”

If anyone still had their doubts, this endorsement is all the proof voters need to cast party labels aside this November. At the end of the day, fraudsters like Ken Paxton and Donald Trump entered politics to serve themselves, not us. This November, it’s time to go back to electing true working-class heroes who are ready to take the fight to government corruption and get big money out of politics once and for all.

In Texas, it’s the people vs. Ken Paxton, and James Talarico is leading the charge.

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