Ken Paxton's attorney in his impeachment trial endorses James Talarico in US Senate race
He received an endorsement from Ken Paxton’s former defense attorney.
SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYCredibility rates WKMG, where this article appeared. The other scores rate the article itself.
WKMG is an established local news outlet, and this story is attributed to the Associated Press, with AP copyright notice. The credited reporting and named sources support confidence in the reporting, though the page is not original WKMG reporting.
- Author attribution — The story names an Associated Press reporter and attributes an interview to AP.
- Source type — An established local news publisher carries the story.
- Transparency — The page identifies the material as Associated Press content and includes a copyright notice.
The story uses named sources and includes both Cogdell’s criticism and responses from Paxton’s campaign and a defense attorney supporting Paxton. It is concise and offers limited detail about Talarico’s campaign or the wider race.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The story presents Cogdell’s stated reasons for endorsing Talarico and includes reactions from Paxton’s campaign and a lawyer who supports Paxton. It does not include a response from Talarico or further detail from Paxton himself.
- Counterarguments presented — Paxton’s campaign calls the endorsement unsurprising, and Buzbee says he supports Paxton.
- Source diversity — The story includes the endorser and two voices on Paxton’s side, but offers no direct comment from Talarico.
- Loaded language — Critical language such as “appeasing” and “bootlick” appears in attributed quotes.
The story uses neutral language to report the endorsement and attributes criticism of Paxton to Cogdell. It also includes responses from Paxton’s campaign and a lawyer supporting him.
- Language tone — The account is largely descriptive and attributes evaluative claims to their speakers.
- Source selection — It includes Cogdell, a Paxton campaign aide, and attorney Tony Buzbee.
- Framing — The focus is the endorsement and the competing political context, without an explicit editorial verdict.
Original publisher not identified
This article credits another publisher, which ChamberLight has not identified, so the scores are WKMG's own.
Houston attorney Dan Cogdell, who defended Ken Paxton during his impeachment trial, endorsed Democrat James Talarico in the Texas Senate race. Cogdell criticized Paxton’s focus on President Donald Trump, while Paxton’s campaign called the endorsement unsurprising.
Cogdell, who represented Paxton for nearly a decade and was part of his impeachment defense team, endorsed Talarico. Cogdell said he did not dislike Paxton and thought lawmakers were right to acquit him, but argued that Paxton is too focused on appeasing Trump. He also pointed to education and health care as areas Texas needs to address.
A Paxton campaign aide called the endorsement unsurprising, and attorney Tony Buzbee, who led Paxton’s impeachment defense, said he was supporting Paxton. The article notes that Talarico’s campaign hopes to flip the Texas Senate seat and that Paxton won the Republican primary runoff against Sen. John Cornyn with help from Trump’s endorsement.
Community verdict
VOTING CLOSED
No good or bad look here
This story reports what happened without casting Talarico in a good or bad light, so readers don’t rate it and it doesn’t count toward Talarico’s record.
People in this story
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President whose endorsement helped Paxton in the Republican Senate primary runoff
Texas attorney general and Republican Senate candidate, and Cogdell’s former client
Texas senator who lost the Republican Senate primary runoff to Paxton
Part of a bigger story
30 OUTLETSOutlets agree that Dan Cogdell, Ken Paxton’s former attorney, endorsed James Talarico in the Texas U.S. Senate race. Left-leaning outlets connect the endorsement to Talarico’s cross-party coalition and, in some coverage, present it as a rebuke to Paxton. Center outlets mostly report the endorsement, Cogdell’s criticism of Paxton and the response from Paxton’s camp, with some noting Talarico’s coalition appeal. Right-leaning outlets range from straightforward endorsement coverage to questioning its significance, while one article instead focuses on photos of Talarico eating meat.
- ARTICLES
- 31
- OUTLETS
- 30
- AVG CRED
- 72
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