Ken Paxton signed attorneys general letters in December 2024 urging the Senate to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general and Kash Patel as FBI director. In July 2025 their Justice Department and FBI declared that "no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted" in the Epstein investigation, and after Congress ordered the files released, the January 2026 release exposed survivors.
In September 2026, Epstein survivors at a Dallas exhibit of the files said they had asked to meet with Paxton and it had not happened; his spokesperson did not respond to FOX 4's request for comment.
Ken Paxton's Letters for Bondi and Patel and His Silence on the Epstein Files
- Paxton Urged the Senate to Confirm Pam Bondi, Whose Justice Department Withheld and Mishandled the Epstein Files. On December 3, 2024, Ken Paxton signed a letter of attorneys general urging the Senate to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general, calling her "a superb choice to serve our nation and the public interest." Under Bondi, the Justice Department declared in July 2025 that no further disclosure was warranted, even as its own review confirmed that Epstein harmed over one thousand victims; after the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a month past the deadline only a fraction of the records have been made public, NBC reported, and NPR found the Justice Department had removed or withheld Epstein files related to sexual abuse accusations that mention President Trump.
- Paxton Urged the Senate to Confirm Kash Patel, Whose FBI Joined the Decision to Release Nothing More. On December 11, 2024, Ken Paxton was among the attorneys general of 24 states who urged Senate leaders to support Mr. Patel's nomination for Director of the FBI, writing that "Mr. Patel is the man for the job." On July 7, 2025, the memo from the Justice Department and Patel's FBI stated that it was "the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted,"; after Congress forced a release, the January 2026 release contained thousands of redaction failures on behalf of nearly 100 individual survivors, their lawyers said.
- Paxton's Office Did Not Respond When Epstein Survivors in Dallas Asked to Meet Him. On September 10, 2026, Epstein survivors Annie Farmer and Sharlene Richard, at a Dallas exhibit of the printed Epstein files, said they had requested to meet with Ken Paxton but that it had not happened, and his spokesperson did not respond to FOX 4's request for comment on the meeting or on calls for him to sue over the files. There are still more than 2 million files that have not been released under the Epstein Transparency Act, FOX 4 reported.
The Epstein Files and Texas Under the Officials Ken Paxton Backed
- Maxwell moved to Texas. On August 1, 2025, the Bureau of Prisons, part of Bondi's Justice Department, moved Ghislaine Maxwell from a low-security prison in Tallahassee to a women's minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ken Paxton on Epstein Files
What is Ken Paxton's record on the Epstein files under Trump?
Ken Paxton signed the attorneys general letters urging the Senate to confirm Pam Bondi and Kash Patel, whose Justice Department and FBI declared in July 2025 that no more Epstein records should be released. After Congress forced a release, survivors' lawyers counted thousands of redaction failures. When survivors in Dallas asked to meet Paxton in September 2026, his office did not respond to FOX 4.
Has Ken Paxton said anything about the Epstein files?
Ken Paxton's office did not respond when FOX 4 asked about the survivors' meeting request and the call for him to sue the Justice Department over the files in September 2026, and the news reports cited on this page quote no public statement from him on the files. Most Americans want more: in a CNN poll published in January 2026, just 6% of Americans were satisfied with how much the U.S. had released.
Did Ken Paxton support Pam Bondi and Kash Patel for their jobs?
Yes. Ken Paxton signed a December 3, 2024 letter calling Bondi "a superb choice" and a December 11, 2024 letter saying "Mr. Patel is the man for the job," and on January 15, 2025 he signed a further letter of 18 attorneys general urging the Senate to confirm both of them, along with Kristi Noem, as soon as possible.
Last updated: 2026-10-25