Texas State Sen. Allegedly Helped Her Husband, the Attorney General, Flee a Subpoena for Abortion Rights Case

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Ken and Angela Paxton

When Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton allegedly fled his home to avoid being served a subpoena on Monday, he had an accomplice — his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton — according to an affidavit filed in federal court this week.

NBC News reports that a process server said he parked outside the Paxtons' home and knocked on the door in an effort to serve the Texas attorney general.

"I could see a silhouette of a man walking in the living room area," process server Ernesto Martin Herrera said in the sworn affidavit. "I knocked on the front door. The door had clear glass in it and I could clearly see inside the house. A female got up from the couch and started walking to the door. I saw Mr. Paxton enter the room behind her. When he saw me, he turned around and went back to where he came from. I recognized him as Ken Paxton from the many pictures available on the internet."

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After the woman — who identified herself as Angela, Paxton's wife — opened the door, Herrera said he "explained to her that I was trying to deliver important legal documents to Mr. Paxton."

He continued: "She went back towards the area where Mr. Paxton had gone and she came back telling me that he was on the phone. I offered to wait for him to be off the phone. She said that he was in a hurry to leave. I left my business card with her."

Herrera said he then sat in his car to wait and, a little over an hour later, saw Paxton exit the driveway.

"I walked up the driveway approaching Mr. Paxton and called him by his name. As soon as he saw me and heard me call his name out, he turned around and RAN back inside the house through the same door in the garage," Herrera wrote.

Minutes later, he said, "Angela came out and opened the driver side and rear side door behind the driver of the truck. She then got inside the truck and started it, leaving the rear door behind the driver side open. A few minutes later I saw Mr. Paxton RAN from the door inside the garage towards the rear door behind the driver side."

Herrera said he "approached the truck, and loudly called [Paxton] by his name and stated that I had court documents for him. Mr. Paxton ignored me and kept heading for the truck."

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Eventually, Herrera determined that Paxton was not going to take the subpoena, so he stated that he was serving him with legal documents and left them on the ground by the truck.

Herrera had been attempting to serve a subpoena on Paxton to testify at a hearing in a lawsuit filed by abortion rights groups who want to prevent state prosecutors from prosecuting them for helping Texans seek access to legal abortions in other states.

Angela has not yet publicly responded to the controversy, though her husband, in a tweet sent Monday, didn't dispute the report, instead accusing the media of "[drumming] up another controversy involving my work as Attorney General" and "attacking me for having the audacity to avoid a stranger lingering outside my home and showing concern about the safety and well-being of my family."

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As he himself noted, Paxton is no stranger to controversy, having been indicted on felony securities fraud charges months after taking office as attorney general in 2015. He has pleaded not guilty and the trial has yet to take place.

In 2020, the Associated Press reported that the FBI was investigating claims that he had abused his office to help a wealthy donor. There, too, Paxton has denied wrongdoing.

Paxton has also courted controversy for taking a leading role in the failed Supreme Court case aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 election, which Joe Biden won over Donald Trump.