Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico on Thursday slammed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, his Republican opponent, for a plea deal his office offered a Waco man who was charged with repeatedly sexually abusing a young boy.
Speaking from the steps of the McLennan County Courthouse in Waco, Talarico demanded that Paxton release communications from his office showing how the deal came together.
“If there’s anything that all Texans can agree on — Democrats and Republicans, progressive and conservatives — it’s that no one, not even the attorney general of Texas, should be able to cover up crimes against children,” Talarico said.
The deal required 49-year-old Adam Dean Hoffman to serve 30 days in jail, admit to molesting the victim and surrender his law license, but he did not have to register as a sex offender. That sparked a swift backlash from many in the community and later the nation as the case gained attention. Roy Sparkman, the visiting judge in the case who previously served on the bench as a Republican, had rejected an initial deal that would have allowed Hoffman to serve just one day in jail.
The Texas Tribune, The Texas Newsroom and KWBU last month uncovered the trial transcript and other court records that for the first time shed light on how the case ended in a mistrial and the victim refused to testify for a second time. The reporting showed that this left prosecutors with no choice, if they wanted to pursue a conviction, but to offer a deal or force the boy to return to court against his will using a subpoena.
The mother of the victim, Sparkman and some Republican lawmakers had all expressed concern over what they saw as too much leniency in the final agreement. The judge highlighted another case, also taken over by the attorney general’s office after a local prosecutor was recused, in which he believed an overly generous deal was offered, raising the specter of whether this was a pattern.
Assistant Attorneys General Brenda Cantu and Dorian Cotlar wrote in a May 15 letter to a state lawmaker that their “difficult decision” to reach a plea deal “was made entirely in the best interest of the child involved,” who had told them that he “preferred to move on with his life” and spare himself the continued trauma of having to face his abuser in court. Cantu said in court that she had nothing to do with the other AG case.
In a statement, Paxton campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy said it was “disgusting” that Talarico wanted a child victim to be forced to be in the same room as his abuser.
“Every time James Talarico chooses to bring this case up he is intentionally re-traumatizing the child victim for personal gain,” Cercy said. “OAG prosecutors have already released information on this, but Talarico cares more about turning a child victim into a political pawn than the truth. The bottom line is that we stand with the child victim.”
Sen. John Cornyn had hammered Paxton for this during the last few months of the Republican primary runoff — with advertisements decrying how the attorney general “failed to protect” trafficking victims and warning “he will fail us” — but it’s not clear how much of an effect the attack line had. Cornyn lost to Paxton by nearly 28 points.
Though Talarico almost immediately picked up the same tirade in his own social media and public speech, the news conference Thursday focused wholly on this issue, indicating a broader strategy at play, and that he believes this is a winning issue as he seeks to court moderate voters.
The Austin state representative’s campaign had an advertisement up about the Hoffman case within two days of the May 26 primary runoff, composed entirely of TV news reports and ending with a voiceover of a reporter saying, “We still don’t know why Hoffman was able to cut this sentence short.”
Talarico on Thursday likened it to an “Epstein-style sweetheart deal,” referencing the controversial 2008 nonprosecution agreement that federal prosecutors reached with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He called on Paxton to “release the Hoffman files,” again evoking the Epstein case, and a sign hung below him on a lectern carrying that phrase. He defined those files as “all text messages, all emails, all documents, all internal memos relating to the Adam Hoffman case.” The Tribune has requested this information from the attorney general’s office.
Talarico also called the deal “corrupt,” though he did not provide evidence that prosecutors acted illegally or that the decision was influenced by improper outside pressure.
He quoted the mother of the victim saying in a statement that her son’s case was “treated differently” because Hoffman’s attorney also represented Nate Paul, Paxton’s friend and campaign donor who was at the heart of the failed impeachment case against the attorney general. Paxton has been accused of taking bribes from Paul, allegedly offering him favors using the power of his office in exchange for a job for Paxton’s mistress and expensive home renovations.
“This is a tale as old as time,” Talarico said. “Powerful, well-connected people covering up for other powerful, well-connected people.”
He added, “What is the connection with his lawyer and Nate Paul? I think Texans have the right to get answers to these questions, and that’s something I’m going to keep pushing for over the course of this campaign.”
The defense attorney, Gerry Morris, told The Tribune/Texas Newsroom/KWBU last month that he was baffled by the suggestion that his client got any kind of special treatment and that misdemeanor plea deals are not uncommon in child sex abuse cases.
Morris, who is well-known for his representation of a Branch Davidian survivor after the 1993 Waco siege, is one of the most prominent defense attorneys in the state with almost 40 years of experience. He has represented a vast array of clients over the years, including recently a University of Texas at Austin lecturer who was arrested and fired after attending a pro-Palestine protest on campus.
“I have never met Paxton, spoken to Paxton or communicated with him directly, indirectly in any manner about this case or any other case,” Morris told The Texas Newsroom and The Texas Tribune. “Anyone who says otherwise is a politician lying to the public to try to con people into voting for him when he’s afraid the truth won’t do that.”
He added in an interview Thursday that he didn’t think the lawyers in Paxton’s office knew that he had represented Paul and reiterated that “Ken Paxton had nothing to do with the negotiations in this case.”
“It’s just an absolute, total falsehood that my representation of Nate Paul had anything to do with Adam Hoffman’s case, and I wish somebody would print that because this just keeps going on and on.”
Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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