'Release the Hoffman Files': James Talarico challenges Ken Paxton Over Controversial Plea Deal

Texas State Representative and United States Senate nominee James Talarico (D-TX) is throwing more accusations of corruption at his opponent and Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX), accusing his office of giving a lenient plea deal in a local child sex abuse case.

At a campaign event last week, Talarico spoke to reporters and community members in Waco, Texas, about a controversial case earlier this year when a local lawyer was accused of sexually abusing a young boy. Talarico is now calling on Paxton to release “all text messages, all emails, internal memos” and “all documents” related to the case.

In April, former Waco attorney Adam Hoffman pled guilty to misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and displaying harmful materials to a minor. His first-degree felony sexual abuse case last year ended in a mistrial after jurors could not come to a verdict, and Paxton’s office offered him a plea deal before a second trial could begin.

‘Release the Hoffman Files’

Talarico claims Paxton’s office gave the attorney, who ultimately served less than a month in jail, an “Epstein-style sweetheart deal,” referencing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s controversial 2008 plea agreement. During the event, Talarico called on Paxton to “release the Hoffman files.”

“The Epstein class has no place in Texas,” Talarico later wrote on X. “And if there's one thing that we can all still agree on, Democrats, independents and Republicans alike, it's that no one, including the Attorney General of Texas, should be able to cover up crimes against children.”

According to spokespeople from Paxton’s campaign, the plea deal was made because the survivor said he did not want to testify again.

“The bottom line is that we stand with the child victim, who in this case did not wish to testify again and be forced into the same room as his abuser,” Paxton’s official campaign account said on X.

Paxton called it “disgusting” that Talarico would suggest the child should be “forced against his will” to testify a second time. Talarico did not explicitly say the child should be compelled to testify.

“Every time James Talarico chooses to bring this case up he is intentionally re-traumatizing the child victim for personal gain,” Paxton said.

Who Else Has Criticized the Deal?

But Talarico is not the first to draw similarities between Hoffman's and Epstein’s cases. Paxton’s deal drew crowds both before and after Hoffman’s sentencing, with demonstrators making similar comparisons.

Others, including Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), have also spoken out against what they perceived as a lenient deal from Paxton’s office to Hoffman.

“It is important to note that the predators who commit these crimes tend to repeat them over and over again, until stopped,” Sen. Cornyn said on X. “Paxton could have stopped this one, but instead cut him loose to reoffend over and over again, putting more children at risk.”