By admin 
- The National Republican Senatorial Committee is deleting dozens of attacks against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after he won the GOP Senate primary.
- The NRSC had called Paxton “Crooked Ken” and accused him of corruption and giving favorable treatment to an alleged child sex trafficker.
- The committee removed press releases, digital ads and social media posts criticizing Paxton as Republicans now rally behind their nominee.
In the wake of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s crushing victory over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican Senate primary, Republican operatives are rapidly scrubbing from the internet months of attacks portraying Paxton as corrupt, dishonest and a threat to President Donald Trump’s agenda.
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A CNN KFile review found the National Republican Senatorial Committee, an official campaign arm of the GOP, deleted at least two dozen press releases, digital ads and statements attacking Paxton — including posts labeling him “Crooked Ken,” criticizing his treatment of his then-wife during their divorce and accusing him of giving favorable treatment to an alleged child sex trafficker.
In comments and posts dating from the past year, the NRSC often referred to Paxton as “crooked” and said his “corruption” would threaten Republicans’ — and most importantly, Trump’s — agenda.
Other deleted press releases pointed to a controversial deal Paxton’s office made with an alleged sex trafficker which kept the man “out of prison and off the sex offender registry.”
“More Texans are now victims of an alleged child sex trafficker because Crooked Ken Paxton gave this dirtbag the kid-gloves treatment,” said NRSC Regional Press Secretary Nick Puglia in the since-purged press release. “Democrats and Paxton are already working together to threaten President Trump’s Senate Majority, now it turns out Paxton was making the kind of plea deals for child sex traffickers that you’d expect from a Democrat too.”
NRSC declined to comment to CNN and pointed to its statement following Paxton’s win — which failed to name the nominee.
“A state President Trump won by nearly 14 points isn’t going to elect James Talarico — a radical leftist who thinks God is nonbinary and that Texas should be a welcome mat for illegals. He is the most dangerous flank of the far left. Texas isn’t swapping brisket for open borders,” said NRSC regional press secretary Samantha Cantrell.
Google’s ad transparency database also showed at least two NRSC anti-Paxton video ads that have since been removed by the uploader, including one titled “Ken Paxton Has a Dark Secret” and another accusing Paxton of “Helping the Woke Left” by giving nearly $1 million to gender-affirming programs. The ads are now labeled “removed by the uploader.”
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The NRSC also removed a handful of ads against Paxton from its YouTube channel.
One ad shows an image of Paxton as a Ken-like doll encased in a plastic box. The voiceover, according to a transcript, reads, “Introducing the all new Ken. He talks a big game about conservative values, but when it’s time to deliver he drags his feet. … Ken doesn’t stand up for conservatives, he stands in their way!”
Another since-deleted ad, titled “Texas Deserves Better Than Ken Paxton,” depicts a bucolic crossroad with crickets chirping. It then cuts to a shadowy street while police sirens, broken glass and car alarms roar. “So, which Texas do you want to hear,” a narrator says. It ends with a title card that reads, “Texas deserves better than the sound of Ken Paxton” and an image of Paxton with his fingers in his ears.
The NRSC also deleted at least eight tweets from X about Paxton since 2025, including two posts that said he was “asleep” at the wheel.
“Instead of protecting Texans, Ken Paxton has been asleep at the wheel. He’s been using taxpayer dollars to give MILLIONS to leftist groups who: ❌Coach illegals on how to evade ICE ❌Push DEI hiring schemes ❌Offer transgender resources to kids,” the NRSC account tweeted in September 2025.
And again in October 2025: “Ken Paxton is so asleep at the wheel he is treating Texas’ taxpayer dollars like Monopoly money — funneling hundreds of millions to liberal organizations and candidates.”
Paxton’s campaign has not responded to this claim, though as Texas’ attorney general, he recently sued Harris County “for unlawfully allocating more than $1.3 million in public money to radical leftist organizations,” according to a press release.
CNN reached out to the Paxton campaign for comment but did not immediately hear back.
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