Ken Paxton Filmed in Dubai With Girlfriend and Two Fugitives as Wife Seeks Divorce on 'Biblical Grounds'

Video of Ken Paxton celebrating New Year's Eve in Dubai with his girlfriend and two businessmen who were later wanted on federal fraud charges surfaced three weeks before the Texas Senate election.

The footage, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, shows the Texas attorney general at a New Year's Eve gathering on 31 December 2024 with Tracy Duhon, described in reports as his girlfriend.

Anosh Ahmed and Sameer Suhail were also present; they had been indicted in a healthcare fraud case months earlier and had not returned to the United States at that time. One of the two men had given Paxton's campaign £142,000 ($190,000).

Fireworks Over the Burj Khalifa

The gathering took place at a luxury high-rise overlooking the Burj Khalifa, where Paxton and Duhon watched the midnight fireworks with other guests, according to footage the Journal reviewed. Another guest recorded the video, which the guest later cited in a filing in a Texas civil case.

Ahmed, a former chief financial officer of a Chicago hospital, and Suhail, a businessman, were indicted alongside another executive over allegations that they diverted more than £11 million ($15 million) from the hospital through payments for goods and services that were never provided.

Ahmed also faces a separate case in which prosecutors allege the defendants sought about £671 million ($894 million) in reimbursements for Covid-19 testing, and about £220 million ($293 million) was paid.

Both men have reportedly since returned to the United States to face prosecution. Ahmed was brought back from Serbia and remains in custody after pleading not guilty to federal fraud charges in August 2026.

His lawyers cited 'family health issues' as the reason for his delayed return, according to the Journal. Suhail's lawyer, Adam Sheppard, said 'civil matters in Dubai' had affected his client's ability to travel and that Suhail 'returned voluntarily after they were resolved'. The charges against both men are allegations, and they are presumed innocent.

Campaign finance records reviewed by the Journal show that Ahmed gave Paxton's campaign a total of £142,000 ($190,000), including a £18,750 ($25,000) contribution made days after his initial indictment in July 2024.

The donations show a financial link to the campaign, but they do not by themselves show wrongdoing by Paxton, and nothing in the reporting connects them to the alleged fraud. The footage places Paxton at the party; it does not show that he knew of or took part in any alleged offence.

The Journal also reported that records of Paxton's publicly funded security detail showed it accompanied him on 19 foreign trips between 2022 and 2025, and that those records did not include the private trip to Dubai.

A Marriage Ended on 'Biblical Grounds'

The video comes as Paxton's divorce case continues, which Texas Monthly reported this autumn was still before the courts. Angela Paxton, a Republican state senator, filed for divorce in Collin County on 10 July 2025, Texas Standard reported. Announcing the filing on X, she said she was seeking a divorce 'on biblical grounds'.

'I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation,' she wrote. 'But in light of recent discoveries, I do not believe that it honours God or is loving to myself, my children, or Ken to remain in the marriage.'

The party at which Paxton appeared with Duhon took place more than six months before that filing. Angela Paxton has nonetheless appeared this autumn in an advertisement for Texas PAC, a super PAC backing her husband's Senate bid, saying she would vote for 'the Republican ticket' without naming her husband, Texas Monthly reported.

Paxton has faced allegations about his conduct before. The Texas House impeached him in 2023 on articles that included allegations of corruption and abuse of office linked to the property developer Nate Paul. He denied wrongdoing, and the state Senate acquitted him.

Talarico Seizes on 'Unearthed' Footage

Paxton's Democratic opponent, James Talarico, a state representative and former teacher, moved quickly to use the footage. 'UNEARTHED: Ken Paxton caught on video partying with fugitives in Dubai,' his campaign wrote on X on Tuesday, 13 October. 'The fugitives were charged with healthcare fraud and helped bankroll Paxton's campaign.'

The post had been viewed about 251,000 times and liked more than 7,000 times when checked later that day.

That characterisation is the Talarico campaign's own. Paxton's campaign did not directly address the Journal's questions about the Dubai gathering. Senior adviser Nick Maddux instead said: 'Like President Trump, Ken Paxton has been politically persecuted for years, and every time, voters have seen through it.'

The footage emerges as recent polls show Talarico ahead of Paxton. A Trafalgar Group survey of likely voters, conducted from 6 to 8 October, put Talarico at 47.1 per cent and Paxton at 43.6 per cent.

A YouGov poll conducted between 28 September and 5 October gave Talarico 50 per cent to Paxton's 44 per cent, with a margin of error of three percentage points.

No Democrat has won statewide office in Texas since 1994. According to the Journal, Trump was told before he endorsed Paxton that damaging revelations were likely to emerge.

Outside money continues to flow into the contest. Elon Musk gave £7.5 million ($10 million) to Lone Star Liberty PAC, which supports Paxton, during the third quarter of 2026, Reuters reported. Texans vote on 3 November.