Judge orders 'biblical' dirt on Ken Paxton's divorce be made public—could crush Senate run

Far-right Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's divorce records are about to become public — with potentially destructive consequences for his Senate run.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Paxton and his ex-wife, Angela, ended their weekslong fight to keep the records under seal after media outlets sued for access. "The sudden shift in the case came late Thursday ... after one of Ken Paxton’s attorneys reached out to inform him the couple was ending its fight to keep the files closed. The move came just hours before the two sides were set to argue before a judge in Collin County District Court as to whether the records should remain sealed."

With the Paxtons consenting to the release, the judge has signed off on an order to proceed.

“It’s a victory, I think, for the American public and for the Texas voters,” said attorney Tyler Bexley, who represents the media outlets pursuing access to the records. “If there’s new information that hasn’t been released publicly yet, we certainly think the voters have the right to know that.”

Paxton, an ally of President Donald Trump with a long history of legal problems including a now-settled securities fraud case and an impeachment for bribery and abuse of power, has been mounting a bid to dethrone longtime Texas Sen. John Cornyn. It's one of the very few federal races in Texas where Trump has not yet made an endorsement.

But the race was shaken up in July when Paxton's then-wife announced she was divorcing him on "biblical grounds." She did not elaborate further on the details, but many observers noted that one of the only grounds for divorce explicitly named in the Bible is adultery — an allegation that has followed Paxton for years.