← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Texas GOP Senate candidate Paxton has been voting illegally, report suggests
00:41:04
Texas Attorney General and Republican candidate for Senate, Ken Paxton's marriage fell apart two years ago when his wife accused him of having an affair and she moved out of the house they shared. According to new reporting from the Texas Tribune and ProPublica, the address of that house is still on Paxton's voting registration even though he hasn't lived there for years and does not appear to be going back. Zach Despart, Texas Tribune investigative reporter, talks with Jen Psaki about why Paxton may have committed voter fraud, and why that would be an especially rich irony.
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A
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B
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- [00:42]
C
your outside we are all basically waiting for Graham Platner to drop out of the race for main Senate. It is hard to imagine any other possible outcome at this point. And to be clear, there has been a steady stream of scandal and controversies about Platner for months now, and through most of it, the voters of Maine and his top supporters have stuck with him. It's been kind of a fascinating political story to watch, but POLITICO's reporting yesterday on allegations of sexual assault were the final straw for good reason. And then late today, the Washington Post published another accusation from another of Platner's ex girlfriends, alleging he had removed condoms without consent during sex. Now I should note Platner has denied both of these new allegations, but the calls for him to drop out of the race have now poured in from basically every corner of the Democratic Party. Several of Platner's high profile endorsers like Congressman Ro Khanna and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, have now all withdrawn their support for his campaign. Other high profile progressives who were not involved in the race, but they've also called for him to drop out. People who are very powerful political forces like New York Mayor Zoran Muhammad Gadani and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez added their voices to the chorus of people urging Platner to withdraw. And look, I've worked in politics for a very long time and I feel pretty certain in saying that Graham Platner is going to drop out of this race. I mean, to me the two tells are that he pulled down all of his public events and he's currently reflecting on the best path forward and that according to reporting, he thinks he has leverage in determining who replaces him as the Democratic nominee for Senate. The main Democratic Party has a different view on that, and we're gonna talk about that as well. And the thing is, as long as he withdraws by Monday, July 13. The party can replace him on the ballot. And so now the conversation is turning to how the Democratic Party found itself in this position. And that conversation has gone in a whole lot of different directions. There are a whole lot of takes out there. I mean, for instance, there are a number of people arguing that this was just a failure of Democratic vetting, that if Platner had been subject to a more rigorous, professionally run vetting process from within the national party that the National Party ran, then he would not have been the nominee. Well, as someone who's worked on these campaigns, I'm here to tell you it's not quite so simple. I mean, for starters, the vetting process relies heavily on what the candidates themselves are willing to disclose. Also, of course, searches of public records, but also what they're willing to disclose. And anyone who has followed the Graham Platner saga over the last few months knows that he has not been especially forthcoming about things in his past, at least not until after those things become national stories. Also, these latest and most serious allegations involve sexual assault. And we have all seen in recent years how difficult it is for women to come forward and put their name to these allegations. It is not the kind of thing that that reliably comes up as a part of the vetting process, because either the candidate would have to disclose, and again, we've already talked about that, or accusers would have to be comfortable sharing their very personal trauma with representatives of a candidate's campaign or with the national party. I mean, just look what happened earlier this year when Congressman Eric Swalwell, someone who had been in elected office for years and nearly won his party's nomination for governor of California. My point is, processes can always be improved. That is for sure. But there is no foolproof system for vetting political candidates. And to that end, you will also hear a number of people argue that this proves the national party should be in charge of the primary processes moving forward, that Platner's nomination somehow proves that allowing a grassroots candidate to rise doesn't work. But guess what? Voters are not waiting for instruction from the National Party. Voters have lost trust in the party establishment and direction from Washington. That is very clear. Support from party leaders like Chuck Schumer has not helped candidates in this cycle, not when it's front and center. And Maine is actually an example of that. Certainly did not help Janet Mills in her campaign against Graham Plattner. And it doesn't change the general repulsion toward Washington and disappointment in the political system. Now, don't get me wrong. There are legitimate discussions to be had about how party leaders win back the trust of their voters. That is a long term project. It is not going to be completed in the next few days or even in the next few weeks. And one place for those leaders to start is by asking themselves why Maine primary voters were so enthusiastic about Platner's campaign for so long. In spite of all we learned along the way, understanding why his candidacy and his message resonated is going to be key for any candidate in Maine and for the Democratic Party as a whole moving forward. Which brings me to the big political question on everyone's mind. What does the path for Democrats to retake the Senate look like now? How has it changed now? In order to retake the Senate this year, Democrats will need to flip four seats and also hold onto seats in states Donald Trump won in the last election. Places like Georgia, where Democrats have a very strong candidate and and Jon Ossoff, but also where a deeply flawed Republican candidate by the name of Herschel walker won over 48% of the vote just four years ago. Important to remember that Democrats will also have to hold their seat in the swing state of Michigan, where incumbent Democratic Senator Gary Peters is retiring. And this week, the field of Democratic candidates running to replace him also just got a little smaller when Democratic candidate Mallory McMurraw dropped out of the race and suspended her campaign. And that leaves just two Democratic candidates in that race, Congresswoman Haley Stevens and Dr. Abdul El Sayed, who faced off against each other in a debate earlier tonight. We're going to have more on that in a moment. We're going to play you part of that in a moment as well. And if Democrats can keep their Senate seats in places like Georgia and Michigan, they will still have to flip at least four Republican seats. And there are a number of battlegrounds where that goal is within reach and definitely remains in reach. In North Carolina, polls show Democratic Governor Roy Cooper is currently crushing his Republican opponent, Michael Wadley. And Texas Democrat James Talarico is facing off against perhaps the most corrupt person on the ballot by the name of Ken Paxton. Same thing in Iowa, where Democrat Josh Turek is pulling neck and neck with his Republican MAGA opponent, Ashley Hinson. In Ohio, former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is in a tight race against incumbent Republican John Husted. And even in deep red, Alaska Congresswoman Mary Piltola is in a close race with incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan. So those are five Republican seats that Democrats could reasonably win this November. They need four. And if Graham Platner exits The race, which I very much think he's going to, and allows another candidate to run in Maine. That state could once again be in play as well. Of course, Republicans will no doubt try to nationalize the Platner controversy and make him an issue in all of these other races. We can. That's just, that's going to happen. But let's be honest, those self righteous arguments from this Republican Party are pretty freaking absurd. I mean, here was former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy trying to make this case just earlier today.
- [08:06]
D
The one thing I know about Republicans, when we had a very bad candidate and found out we didn't vote for that person, we walked away. For better or for worse, when Matt Gaetz came forward, we got rid of him.
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C
I'm sorry, what? You know, we all saw this go down, right? I mean, Kevin McCarthy, again, he says he and his party got rid of Matt Gaetz. And that's funny, because I remember it being, well, the other way around. I mean, Matt Gaetz spent years in Congress under a cloud of allegations about paying a minor for sex, allegations he denies. And during that time, it was Gaetz who led the charge for his party to kick Kevin McCarthy out of his job as Speaker. And Gates career was just one of many examples of Republicans looking the other way when members of their party were accused of sexual assault. There's 2017 when the Republicans rallied against Senate candidate Roy Moore despite multiple allegations of inappropriate behavior with minors, allegations he denies. In 2022, they did the same thing for Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, despite allegations of domestic violence, allegations he also denied. And of course, that's all to say nothing of the way the party has rallied around the current president. The man who bragged about assaulting women on tape. The man who was found liable by a civil court for sexual abuse. The man who has had to deny so many accusations of sexual misconduct that those accusations now have their own lengthy Wikipedia page. Welcome to 2026. Look, there are a lot of good questions and valid critiques about how Graham Platner became the nominee. But it's worth noting that every major Democratic figure from Chuck Schumer to Bernie Sanders, have unequivocally called on him to drop out of the race over these allegations. Just like every major Democratic figure called on Eric Swalwell to drop out of his race just three months ago. Meanwhile, Republicans have spent the last decade showing us time and time again that when it comes to holding their own members accountable, they're either unwilling or incapable or some sad combination of both. And that is the Real choice voters will face in every single race this November. Joining me now to break all of this down is Amy Walter, editor in chief of the Cook Political Report, and Jim Messina, former campaign manager for Barack Obama. Okay, Jim, I know you've been taking this all in. You are a political animal in your soul. After all, just as I have over the past couple days, what do you make of where things stand right now in Maine?
- [10:33]
D
Well, look, I can't believe that Platner and his team think that they get to decide who the Democratic nominee is. This Amy, really pisses me off. It's just insane. Like when you cause this, you don't get to decide. When you've lied about your actions for months, including personally to all of us, you don't get to decide when you are the are are trying to figure out like how to if you're staying in this race, you don't get to decide. It's like he thinks that he's going to make decision. And the fact is, and Amy talked about this in some of her tweets today, he's been underperforming more than every other Senate Democratic candidate in America. When you look at this state, which is a seven or eight point Democratic state, when you look at the national mood, he's only had a two point lead. He had his own problems. It's not like, you know, his people are saying, well, he's got this movement and everyone needs to get his movement. Democrats in Maine have to decide who is going to be the best candidate to win in the general election. And that is someone who can win women voters. Susan Collins continues to over perform these elections because she overperforms with women voters. And so it's not about a Graham Platner endorsement. It's about who the women of Maine want to see as their next United States Senator.
- [11:48]
C
And I want to dig all into the process. The executive director of the Maine Democratic Party actually just posted a video to your point, but we're going to play that in a second. But first I want to ask Amy about this because I think there's been this perception, right, that that Platner defied political gravity.
- [12:05]
B
Right.
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C
You hear that over and over again. I've probably said it. So I'm going to do a mea culpa here. But despite all, I mean, he seemed to still kind of hold on to some semblance of support in Maine even with as these controversies came out. But it sounds like part of your data analysis is that he was underperforming other candidates and maybe that was an overstatement. But what do you, what do you make of how much he was able to hold on to and what he lost? What should people understand about where the numbers actually were sitting even before the last couple of days?
- [12:35]
E
Yeah, well, Jen, I think you made a good point in your opening, which is even with all of the baggage that he had, as these Reddit posts that he had made came out, as a lot of the opposition against him came out, support among Democrats did not wane. I was actually in Maine that week that the first round of Reddit posts came out. And what I heard from people who were actually at a Platner rally that day say is, number one, we still stand behind you. And number two, we are convinced that this is the work of Democrats in Washington. This is the sort of thing that Washington insiders do to undercut real grassroots sort of establishment people who go against the establishment type of candidates. And I think if we learned anything from this race, it was that two things can be true at the same time. Number one, the base is hungry for somebody who is new and different, who speaks like somebody who is from the real world, not somebody who's from Washington, not somebody who's been in politics a long time. The second is that the candidate of the establishment, Janet Mills, was not very well liked within the Democratic Party in Maine. She was respected, but they weren't dying to see her run in that slot. And so put those two things together and let's give Platner his due. He is a very talented candidate on the stump, and I think that also won voters over in the state. But fundamentally, I come back to the point. Jim and I have been making this same point. You know, if you're running a candidate in Montana, as Jim has done, you want to find a candidate who fits that state and makes up for the deficiencies that Democrats have in that state. In Maine, this is a blue state. This is not a red state. Democrats to win here do not need to win Trump voters. They need to win over voters who have consistently voted for Democrats, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and yet have also voted for Susan Collins. Those voters, as Jim and I have both noted, are women, overwhelmingly women, especially working class women, and women who have a college degree. That is where Susan Collins does best, white working class men. We've talked so much about that group of voters. Who's going to appeal to them? If you look at the 2020 exit polls, Joe Biden and Sarah Gideon, who was the nominee in 2020 against Susan Collins, both did as Poorly with white men as the other. Both lost them by 30 points. It was the women where Biden was able to really outrun Gideon.
- [15:44]
C
It's such an important. I mean, ultimately, winning is about winning more votes. I mean, it doesn't. It's about how you get there. Okay, Jim, you mentioned being pissed off. Quite pissed off. I get it. About the Platner team thinking they have a say in who the nominee is. And we just were able to pull up what the executive director of the main Democratic Party just posted right before we came on air online about the replacement process. I want to play that because I think a lot of people in the party have, like, PTSD from 2024. So it's about where we go from here. But let's play that and we'll talk about it. The integrity of this process is just as important as the outcome. And we are committed to ensuring Democrats across our state can have confidence in both. Unfortunately, Graham Platner's team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like. We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner's team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the US Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like. Okay, that sounds right to me. I think the question is, what is the process going to look like and what should the process look like? Because they have a time limit here. First of all, Platner has not yet dropped out. I think he's going to. He has until Monday the 13th. Then they have about two weeks to have a new candidate. So, Jim, you've thought a lot about keeping coalitions together. What should this process give them some free advice right now look like?
- [17:15]
D
Well, first of all, hallelujah to the executive director of the Maine Democratic Party. She's exactly right. And that was her telling the Platner team and Graham Platner to go jump in a main lake. The process should be be very, very grassroots. It should be very holistic. It should be incredibly transparent. You already see some candidates out tonight talking about their interest in running, laying out policies. You know, they added over index on. Very clear, very transparent, and very grassroots. And I think those were the things that people didn't think happened during the 2024 presidential selection for very good reasons. I don't want to relitigate it, but a lot of people were pissed about that process. And my advice to Maine is just go back to what you're good at, which is grassroots, and run a good process that people feel like they have a say in this, in their next candidate. Because you're going to need every single person to beat Susan Collins in November.
- [18:13]
C
Amy, I'm sure people might start stopping you in the hallway or the street if they aren't already to ask you who can actually defeat Susan Collins as they do about every state. Is there enough known about any of these candidates to even have data or know the answer to that question. And let me ask you a two parter because there has been this belief that you can transfer, which I don't believe, support from say, Graham Platner, his support from some working class voters to another candidate like say that's the argument for Troy Jackson. Give us your take on that too.
- [18:46]
E
Right. I do not believe this conveys like you buy a house and you get the refrigerator with it. You don't get to convey that with candidates. But it goes back to the concept here of who is the right candidate to defeat Susan Collins. Fear the Democratic Party. That's the number one question that you need to ask. And we've actually had an opportunity, Maine Democrats actually have had an opportunity to do that in a gubernatorial primary that had a lot of candidates who came from lots of parts of the state, from the ideological spectrum. And we can go back and look at those candidates, how they performed, what they talked about. I think those are folks who also had to go through the process of running for office. They have voting records. These are the sorts of things that Maine voters have already been grading their candidates on. Obviously this was for a gubernatorial race, not a Senate race, but they know who these voters. I'm sorry, they know who these candidates are and they've already made that choice.
- [19:59]
C
So there's a lot of people out. I mean we're gonna.
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E
There are people out there who didn't win that nomination.
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F
Exactly.
- [20:06]
E
And Troy Jackson's one of them. But he's not the only one.
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C
That's true. I said there's a lot of people saying, putting out there if, if people demand I serve, I will serve. That is how I'm defining all the candidates coming forward. Okay, we have to take a very quick break. We lot more to talk about because there's a lot of politics going on right now, including a debate that just wrapped up in one of the most interesting primary races in the country. I think at least we'll be right back.
- [20:34]
B
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- [21:53]
C
Back with me now are Amy Walter and Jim Messina. Okay, we're going to dig into Michigan. A debate just wrapped up between the two candidates who are remaining in the race vying to become the Democratic nominee for U.S. senate and Michigan. This is, it's, it's a must win race. I think we can, we can say that for Democrats, both of the candidates tonight. We're pressed on a lot of things, including the direction of the Democratic Party as well as the national implications of the race outside of Michigan. So take a listen to that.
- [22:22]
A
Tell you this, it won't shift if we continue to elect leaders who take money from the same corporations who have broken with the interests of the American public. Chuck Schumer desperately wants one of us to be the next senator and it's not me. So if you want your politics dictated you by AIPAC or Chuck Schumer, then I'm not your guy. I think we need to go back to the idea of government of the people, by the people and for the people.
- [22:45]
G
For me, this has always been about Michigan. And the reason I have put up my hand to run for U.S. senate is because of what I'm hearing from Michiganders because a fully paralyzed veteran reached out to me and asked me if he was still going to get his benefit check because he saw Elon Musk walking around with the chainsaw. I have stood up, I have, I have called these guys out and I am stopping these abuses of power.
- [23:13]
C
All right, Jim Messina, you've watched a lot of primary debates. What did you make of that? What does it tell us about the race for people who are just tuning into it? And what should people know about the dynamics in this race well, look, I
- [23:24]
D
totally agree with you that there's just no scenario in which we can lose Michigan and win the United States Senate. Like this is a seat we have to retain. And it's very clear. And that's, you know, Morrow dropping out was a very big moment. We now have a head to head race. This is one where I am not neutral. Haley Stevens worked with me in the White House, is one of the best humans I know and is an incredible public servant and I'm proud to have done whatever I can to help her. But you see the distillation of the two arguments in the Democratic Party. You see Dr. Syed saying, this is about revolution. This is about casting aside the system that doesn't work. And you see Haley Stevens say, no, it's about normal pocketbook issues about making government government work and about affordability and the cost of living. And here's what I've done and here's what I will do. This is the fight we're having in the Democratic Party. And in the fact that we're having it in a Michigan Senate race in the middle of the summer I think is incredibly interesting and will tell us a lot about where the Democratic Party wants to go.
- [24:26]
C
Yeah, I mean, the primary is up. Oh, go ahead, Amy. I was gonna say it's up just so people know. It's up in August 4th, so it's coming up soon. But give us your take on where
- [24:34]
E
things stand in there.
- [24:35]
C
What you both should know.
- [24:37]
E
Jim, it's interesting too to say, oh, this is the fight the Democrats are having in 2026. To me, I was having a flashback to the conversation Democrats were having in 2016. This sounded a lot like a Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders debate from 2016. And so what we're really watching is a Democratic Party that is still grappling with its identity. One side saying, listen, to win over swing voters, you gotta go with the meat and potatoes, the bread and butter that regular Normie non really plugged in. Politicos want to hear from the party, what are we going to deliver to them? The other side says no. Even swing voters are so disgusted, so turned off by politics as normal is. The only thing that they believe in now is somebody who comes from the outside who can really change a system that has been. Is it even more broken than it was 10 years ago? So if you're Haley Stevens, what you really want is this race to be much more localized. If you are el sayed, what you want is for this race to be very much nationalized, especially among national Democrats. At the end of the day, it's likely going to come down to voters in and around Detroit, especially African American voters, who make up a significant chunk of the voters in this state. But boy, oh, boy, right now you'd have to say that El Sayed is the one who's in the driver's seat. You could tell in that debate because Haley Stevens came out swinging early and often trying put him on defense. But as you said, Jen, we still have three weeks to go, a lot of undecided voters and a lot of money still to be spent.
- [26:20]
C
And I feel like a lot of money is going to be spent. Let me ask you, Amy, about Mallory McMurraw and her voters. And she was much lower in the polls, at least the public polls that we saw, than these two candidates who remain in the race. But there are still voters who she was their first choice. There have been a lot of takes out there on where these voters are going to go. We don't tell us what we actually know from the data about where they might go.
- [26:46]
E
Yeah, I mean, this is the McMorrow challenge always was that she was a candidate who was both an outsider, but could make the case that she had been in office and had won in places that are tough for Democrats to win. So she was an electable outsider. And there was an appeal to that. The argument that Haley Stevens would make and is making is many of those voters are the kinds of women who live in and around the suburbs who were looking for somebody who was a little bit different, wasn't somebody who had necessarily been in Washington, but at least could make the case for electability. If you're El Sayed, you say, look, these are clearly voters who want an outsider. They don't want somebody who's part of Washington. At the end of the day, though, I think her share of the vote, at least in the first, the last polls that came out before she dropped out, she was in the single digits, and the undecided voters were somewhere between 15, 17%. So it's not just the McMorrah voters. It's those undecided voters. And I think what Haley is banking on, Haley Stevens is banking on is those voters are the ones that really are the bread and butter voters. They're not the ideological voters. Those voters have already lined up. But behind El Sayed, the rest is the, you know, the folks who want something out of their politicians that is not something that is just simply about ideology or the kind of stuff that you maybe talk about on a political talk show.
- [28:24]
C
Sorry, they're all good.
- [28:26]
E
They're getting their news from a lot of places, not necessarily from here.
- [28:31]
C
Yeah, we certainly know that. Hello. If you are watching, thank you. We're gonna talk to Deb Debbie Dingle about this too because I'm sure she's got some takes on it. Amy, Walter, Jim as, thank you both so much for joining me. Coming up, we're going to have much more on that crucial debate tonight and that crucial Michigan primary. And again, so much of the focus is on Maine right now and for good reason. But this is going to be an absolute must win race. We just talked about this. I think most people agree for Democrats in November. And Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell is standing by. We're going to talk about she joins me next.
- [29:11]
B
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D
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A
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A
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C
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A
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A
Their fee is free unless they win.
- [30:21]
C
Okay, I just want to show you a little bit more of what happened in that Democratic primary debate tonight in Michigan because one of these candidates, moderate Congresswoman Haley Stevens or progressive Abdul El Sayed is going to be the nominee in an absolute must win Senate race for Democrats this November. So this tells you a lot about about them, but we're going to play it now.
- [30:42]
G
This Senate seat is considered a toss up for November, a 50, 50 chance that it will go Democrat or Republican. The one thing that I do is I win tough races. I flipped a congressional seat that was long held by a Republican Blue in 2018 and I held it when Donald Trump was on the ballot. Living my values. Living the values to make change and improve people's lives. Mike Rogers, he's not going to do a thing to impact child care and make it more affordable for families.
- [31:14]
A
Look, if you want somebody who's electable, the last three polls in a row show that I'm the most electable Democrat in November. Why? Because you got to actually fight for something. It's not enough to offer people two options that kind of look the same on the issues that matter the most. If you're taking money from corporations, the same corporations, Democrat or Republican, how different are things really going to be? I'm offering an opportunity to actually invest in what we want to fight for, for health care that is guaranteed, for an economy that works, for working people, for finally getting corporate money out of our politics.
- [31:45]
C
Joining me now is Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan. Few people know as much about Michigan politics as Debbie Dingell, so I'm so grateful you're here. Let me just ask you. That was just a snippet of the debate. You probably watched much more of it than. But what was interesting about that is the word electability is thrown around a lot around this Senate race. You know, Michigan well, you just heard from the two candidates defining that, different versions, I guess, in the clips. What did you think?
- [32:14]
H
So it's good to be with you. And I want to start at a higher level and say to you, Michigan is a purple state and nobody in a statewide race right now has got it locked for a win in November. I'm going to say that flat out, this is a must win race. But it isn't locked in. And I was sitting there listening to Amy, and it was 10 years ago, by summer of 2016, I was telling all of you that Hillary Clinton was going to lose Michigan and nobody believed me. So believe me, now we have a competitive race. Watching the Senate debate tonight, I watched it from start to finish. I would say this was Haley's best debate. She was calmer and focused than she's been in previous debates. That Dr. Elsiad Abdul was. He's a very strong orator. But I would tell you that coming out of tonight's debate, I think they probably are both tied both of their bases. Probably think they both did really well. And there's some issues that I think they both got kind of. I mean, there was a lot of negative tonight, which also bothers me. The people in the middle are gonna think about. And Amy was wrong about one thing. It's not three weeks until the primary, it's four weeks. And every one of those minutes feels painful to me right now.
- [33:47]
C
I bet it does. I bet it does. What should people. I mean, Michigan is not the same politics. Everybody knows this as New York, not even the Denver suburbs. What should people understand about Michigan? And do you have a preference between these two candidates? I mean, you know Michigan well, I'm
- [34:04]
H
as neutral as a person could be. Abdul is my constituent. He's, by the way, tried to run twice against me. We work with each other. I'm a strong Medicare for all person, as you know, the lead of it in the Congress. Haley is my friend and my colleague. And I both believe that they can be beat Mike Rogers. But I think they've got. Both of them have got to prove to people that they can beat Mike Rogers in November. And I really think this is a very competitive race. Part of a primary comes down to who shows up, who turns out. Clearly the progressive movement. People want to see people who are willing to stand up to Donald Trump. People are really angry. So. So those voters are likely to turn out, but there's. Haley's probably stronger in the African American community at this time. We have four weeks. Four weeks is a lifetime in American politics. And I truly do not believe either one of these candidates have won yet. And every day is going to matter what they say. They can't make mistakes, who they appeal to. This is a competitive state, and that primary is a competitive primary. And by the way.
- [35:24]
C
Yeah.
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H
I want to just say one thing. This is one of the states that Republicans are trying to play in. That we know that. That's a fact. I'm not weighing in on any side. I'm saying that. But there is a competitive Republican primary. So Republicans are more likely to vote in that primary because of the gubernatorial primary.
- [35:47]
C
Yeah, it is definitely a race to watch the primary, but also the general election one. People need to pay very close attention. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, thank you as always, for being here.
- [35:57]
H
Thank you.
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C
Okay, coming up, Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton has been on a bit of a crusade to find voter fraud is one way of putting it. And wouldn't you know it. Wouldn't you know it. New reporting suggests that he might have voted illegally six times.
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G
Wow.
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C
The reporter who broke that story joins me next. Talk all about it. Okay. Normally, I wouldn't spend too much time on allegations of a steamy affair, but new reporting from ProPublica and the Texas Tribune show that proving this alleged affair may actually matter legally. Today, the British tabloid the Daily Mail published a video they claim shows Texas Attorney general and Republican senatorial candidate Ken Paxton in London with a woman the tabloid alleges to be his mistress on the fourth of July. And we here at Amazon have not independently confirmed that reporting. But that reporting came just a week after the Daily Mail published video of Paxton and that same woman in question flying to Iceland together. And just a few months after the Daily Mail reported that Paxton and the woman had moved in together, living in what the male called a love nest. Now, we at MSNow have not independently confirmed that reporting either. Normally, we usually leave the tracking down of Love Nest to the tabloids, but it turns out that whether or not Ken Paxton has shacked up with this woman in a love nest may actually matter. Not just because of the alleged affair, but because of where he's registered to vote. Today, ProPublica and the Texas Tribune published a joint report showing that Ken Paxton may have violated the same election laws he has prosecuted as Texas attorney general. And according to records obtained by ProPublica and the Texas Tribune, Paxton appears to have used an address where he did not live while. Where he didn't live while voting in six elections in the past two years. And in a divorce filing last year, Paxton's wife said that Paxton had moved out of the couple's home a year earlier. But Paxton continues to list the home's address on his voter registration. And in Texas, that is a crime. It is voter fraud. And Ken Paxton, of all people, should know that. You see, even though actual intentional voter fraud is exceedingly rare, Ken Paxton has made prosecuting it his signature issue. His office has investigated nearly 200 cases of supposed voter fraud over the past decade, often upending people's lives, often the lives of Democratic or minority voters, even if they did absolutely nothing wrong. I mean, here's his website on the screen where he outlines how misrepresenting your residency on election records is illegal. Paxton has literally arrested people for registering to vote at the wrong address before. As three election lawyers told ProPublica and the Texas Tribune, Paxton may have violated the same Texas laws his office cautioned about. Now, I should note that Ken Paxton's campaign says that Attorney General Ken Paxton is a lawful registered Texas voter in full compliance with the law. And I should note that it remains unclear where Ken Paxton has lived for the past two years. But reporting from ProPublica and the Texas Tribune have linked him to the same home the Daily Mail said was Paxton and his female companions, quote, love shack? A love shack that happens to be in a different county than where Paxton is registered to vote. Joining me now is Zach Despard, the investigative reporter who broke that story for ProPublica and the Texas Tribune. Okay, Zach, we tried to do the best summary there. Let me start by asking you, is what Ken Paxton appears to have done here the kind of thing, since you've covered this so closely, that Ken Paxton has prosecuted over Texans for doing in the past? And what did I miss about your reporting? People should know.
- [39:57]
F
Yeah. Well, first of all, thanks, Jen, for having me and the valiant effort in summarizing the reporting so far. I mean, this came out from. I was reading the divorce filing that Mrs. Paxton had filed in which she had said that AG Paxton had moved out of their shared home two years ago. I had pulled his voting records, which are public in most states, and it showed that he had voted six times in the past two years since he had moved out from that home, including in the Republican primary, which he won and is now the Republican nominee for Senate in Texas. Now, it is permissible under Texas law, law to temporarily leave a home where you are registered to vote, so long as you intend to return to that home. That's a provision that is often used by college students and members of the military.
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H
Here.
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F
It's a little bit murkier, according to election lawyers I had talked to, in part because we don't know where Ken Paxton has been living the last two years. But our reporting shows that he appears to be living at a home in Denton County. We knew that because we had established that he was receiving mail there, because we had talked to some neighbors who had seen him in the neighborhood and because he had changed the address on some forms to that new property. That suggests, according to the election lawyers, that he may not have the intent to return to the home he shared with Mrs. Paxton.
- [41:27]
C
You just did a summary of it, but I think people should understand the lengths to which you went to try to kind of show that he had was living at the second home in a different address. So you talked to neighbors, you observed some mail, tell people who are watching, help them understand all the different things you went through in this reporting process.
- [41:47]
F
Sure. It was a bit of a challenge in part because the home in Denton county is owned by a trust with a vague name. The trust does not disclose its ownership to the county. It's not required to under Texas law. We want to do the best that we can to make sure the sources that we're writing about know that we're writing about them. So that in this case is trying to establish that Ken Paxton lives there and he has the opportunity to explain why. So then in this case, it included actually going out to the neighborhood, knocking on the door. There wasn't anybody there. But when I left a letter that I had written for Mr. Paxton in the mailbox, there was mail addressed to him there. And again, yeah, talking to the neighbors was helpful as well because. Because they said they had seen him in the neighborhood.
- [42:32]
C
You are clearly very focused on this story. Ken Paxton is an important figure in Texas. He's somebody who could be in the Senate. What are you looking for next? Where does the story go from here?
- [42:43]
F
Sure. I mean, that's a great question. There were certainly a number of leads that were falling in for many of the Senate candidates and people who are running for statewide office in this cycle. I mean, certainly we will be following up on this story. I was surprised to see the statement that the Paxton campaign had given you because we had sent them all of our findings for the story. Said, look, if we misinterpreted anything, gotten anything wrong. They said the story was, I think, a tabloid lie, but didn't respond when we said, please explain what we have gotten wrong. So it is interesting that they are contending that he is registered to vote legally. I'd be curious to see how that would ever play out in court, if it ever got there.
- [43:24]
C
Well, I think it's quite an interesting bit of hypocrisy in this particular race. Really interesting, compelling reporting. Thank you so much, Zach, for being here with us, and we'll keep following what you're up to.
- [43:36]
F
Thank you, Jen.
- [43:38]
C
Okay, we have to take a very quick break, but Lawrence has the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Adam Smith, standing by. We'll be right back. That does it for me tonight. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern on Ms. Now. And don't forget to follow the show on Blue sky, Instagram and TikTok.
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E
TikTok, you're more than just one thing. You're the boss. Hey, Google, what time is my meeting with Tim today?
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C
The athlete that class wrecks me. The ringleader and we're good and always their mom.
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E
Everyone in the all new Mazda CX5
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B
more to move every side of you.
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Learn more@mazdausa.com Google is a trademark of Google LLC.
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Sequences shortened and simulated.