{"id":"1792882298347-news-segment","slug":"ken-paxton-s-divorce-fuels-family-values-fire","title":"Ken Paxton's Divorce Fuels Family Values Fire","summary":"Angela Paxton filed for divorce in July 2025 after 38 years of marriage, citing adultery and \"biblical grounds\"; the petition states the couple had not lived together since June 2024. Ken Paxton's affairs were also documented during his 2023 impeachment proceedings.","publishedAt":"2026-10-24T22:51:38.347Z","channel":{"id":"news","name":"Oncast News","language":"en"},"show":"News Tonight","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: Angela Paxton filed for divorce in July 2025 after 38 years of marriage, citing adultery and \"biblical grounds\"; the petition states the couple had not lived together since June 2024. Ken Paxton's affairs were also documented during his 2023 impeachment proceedings.\nSource: [cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-sen-angela-paxton-divorce-ag-ken-paxton/), [nytimes.com](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/us/ken-paxton (https://x.com/BradLeese/status/2111912960960631189)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Angela Paxton filed for divorce in July 2025 after 38 years of marriage, citing adultery and \"biblical grounds\"; the petition states the couple had not lived together since June 2024. Ken Paxton's affairs were also documented during his 2023 impeachment proceedings.","sourceName":"[cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-sen-angela-paxton-divorce-ag-ken-paxton/), [nytimes.com](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/us/ken-paxton","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/BradLeese/status/2111912960960631189","claim":"So do YOU really know Ken Paxton? Here’s a few fact checked issues about him. He’s: Anti-Family Values: In 2025, his wife of 38 years filed for divorce citing adultery, following years of high-profile extramarital affairs. Anti-Law and Order: On New Year’s Eve 2024, he was https:","author":"Brad 🗳️✝️🌊 Texas⁠ (@BradLeese)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/BradLeese/status/2111912960960631189","name":"[cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-sen-angela-paxton-divorce-ag-ken-paxton/), [nytimes.com](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/us/ken-paxton","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Brad 🗳️✝️🌊 Texas⁠ (@BradLeese)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792882298347-news-segment-ken-paxton-s-divorce-fuels-family-values-fire","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/news","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792882298347-news-segment-ken-paxton-s-divorce-fuels-family-values-fire","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1792882298347-news-segment-ken-paxton-s-divorce-fuels-family-values-fire and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Bella","text":"Ken Paxton's Senate run just got personal, and not in a way he can spin."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Oh, what now?"},{"host":"Bella","text":"A Texas voter named Brad posted a fact-check thread on him, and the first item is brutal: his wife of thirty-eight years filed for divorce last July, citing adultery."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Thirty-eight years. That's the whole adult life."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And the court papers say they hadn't lived together since June 2024. This is all documented from his 2023 impeachment."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Paxton's running as the family values candidate? After that?"},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's exactly the point Brad's making. He calls him anti-family values, anti-law and order."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Well, when your own wife files on biblical grounds, the ads write themselves."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The thing is, Paxton survived impeachment. Texas Republicans stuck with him. But a primary against a well-funded challenger is different."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Different how? He's won statewide three times. Voters knew about the affairs then."},{"host":"Bella","text":"They knew rumors. Now it's a court filing from his wife. That lands different."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Maybe. But Texas has forgiven worse from politicians who deliver. Paxton's base sees him as a fighter against the feds."},{"host":"Bella","text":"There's a limit. When the family values guy can't keep his own family, it's not nothing."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Fair. But I'll wait for a poll before calling it fatal."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Speaking of posts that make you sit up... one is going around about Don Lemon."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The 'jury ordered him to pay 17 million to church parishioners' story?"},{"host":"Bella","text":"That one. Someone on X actually asked Grok if it was true, and Grok came back: no record of it. No lawsuit, no jury, no 500 thousand per parishioner."},{"host":"Brian","text":"I'll say this for AI fact-checks: when they work, they kill a rumor fast."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And this rumor was designed to spread. Fake legal news about a former anchor, 34 victims, dollar amounts. All invented."},{"host":"Brian","text":"It's a good reminder. The most satisfying stories to share are often the ones someone made up to make you share them."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And the account that posted it got one reply with the fact-check, and that's all it took."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Thirty seconds of checking beats a thousand angry reposts."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Now a post that's just strange. Court records, if true, involve Amy Acton."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Ohio's former health director, the face of COVID lockdowns there."},{"host":"Bella","text":"An account posted that her stepfather was indicted in 1978 for raping her when she was twelve, and then fled the state."},{"host":"Brian","text":"We have to be careful with that one. The post links to some court records, but this is exactly the kind of thing that turns out to be a different person or a forged document."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And even if true, it's a private family trauma, not a political issue."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Exactly. Acton's public record is fair game. This is something else entirely."},{"host":"Bella","text":"So we'll leave that one where it is: unverified, and not something to build a segment around."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Now, completely different world: a London post claiming Met Police are protecting pedophiles."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's a serious accusation, and it's a Bluesky post with no sourcing, no names, no investigation."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Right. It's the kind of thing that, if there's a specific case, needs to come from a named outlet or official source."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Without that, it's just an inflammatory claim. We're not going to amplify it as fact."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And we have exactly one light item tonight. A journalist posted the most mundane breaking news of the week."},{"host":"Bella","text":"What's that?"},{"host":"Brian","text":"'Soup news; it's sausage barley. Late breaking developments: bread pudding.'"},{"host":"Bella","text":"Finally, the hard-hitting coverage we've been missing."},{"host":"Brian","text":"It's a reminder that not everything has to be war and politics. Sometimes the soup is just soup."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And the bread pudding is a late-breaking development."}]}