Ken Paxton, the suspended Texas attorney general, traveled to China with other attorneys general on a secret trip that included meetings with government officials and did so against the advice of his staff who disclosed of concern over the potential influence of the Chinese Communist Party, according to sources and internal documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
The shadowy trip — hosted by the Attorney General Alliance (AGA) and the Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG) — is a 10-day excursion taking place between Oct. 30, 2019, and Nov. 8, 2019, and includes stops in the Chinese cities of Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Macau, according to a travel itinerary reviewed by Fox News Digital.
“My first thought was that it was a terrible decision that was made,” said an individual with knowledge of the trip, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation. “Under any set of circumstances as a US law enforcement officer you should voluntarily go to China.”
Paxton — who was accompanied on the trip by his wife Angela, a Texas state senator — was not required to report the trip and ultimately attended against the wishes of staffers who raised potential government influence and concerns. on surveillance, officials familiar with the matter said.
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Ken Paxton, the suspended Texas attorney general, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas on August 5, 2022. (Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The documents showed AGA and CWAG arranged lavish accommodations and travel for Paxton and other attorneys general in attendance. And top state law enforcement officials, both Republicans like Paxton and Democrats including then-Hawaii Attorney General Clare Connors, have met with both Chinese government officials and representatives of the private sector.
Several individuals, who requested anonymity to avoid retaliation, confirmed the authenticity of the trip and documents. Fox News Digital is withholding their names to protect their identities.
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In addition to Paxton, his wife and Connors, then-Attorneys General Hector Balderas of New Mexico, Mark Brnovich of Arizona and Wayne Stenehjem of North Dakota; former Connecticut Deputy Attorney General Margaret Chapple; and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes joined the trip. Balderas, Brnovich and Reyes brought their wives.
Attendees like Connors and Brnovich, for example, reported travel because of disclosure laws in their state, filings show.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife Angela are pictured outside the Supreme Court on Nov. 1, 2021. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
AGA Executive Director Karen White and executives from Microsoft, Alibaba, JUUL and various companies and law firms are also listed on the trip’s attendee list.
“International delegations are focused on matters to include Consumer Protection, organized crime, and cybercrime, all of which are priorities in other countries and bilateral security relations of the United States,” said the Deputy Director and General Counsel of AGA’s Tania Maestas on Fox News Digital in a statement. “The United States has extensive cultural ties and a mutually beneficial economic relationship and continues to build on them through these delegations.”
“The China International Delegation has surrounded issues such as the fight against counterfeit products and violations of intellectual property laws,” Maestas continued. “Meetings with Chinese officials about counterfeit vaping products flooding the US market also help provide additional protections for US consumers as state attorneys general have regulatory and enforcement responsibilities in under national tobacco settlements and ongoing matters related to vaping.”
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Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives for the second plenary session of the National People’s Congress in Beijing on March 7. (GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)
During the trip, the delegation first traveled to Beijing where they stayed at a Four Seasons hotel.
In Beijing, the attorneys general met with Chinese federal court officials and Chinese prosecutors; met with the general counsel of the state-run China State Construction and Engineering; toured the Microsoft offices; and participated in several historical tours including one to Tiananmen Square, the site of an infamous government massacre of student protesters in 1989.
They then traveled to Hangzhou where they stayed at a Sheraton resort. Their brief stay in the city was highlighted by a day-long visit to the headquarters for Alibaba, the multi-billion dollar e-commerce platform. tightly controlled by the Chinese government.
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After Hangzhou, the delegation traveled to Shanghai where they stayed at a Waldorf Astoria hotel. In addition to touring the city, they met with leaders at law firm Squire Patton Boggs Shanghai and unidentified “local officials.”
On their final leg of the trip, the delegation traveled to Macau where they stayed at the Venetian Macau. The main purpose of the leg is recreation.
The gondola lobby of the Venetian Casino and Hotel in Macau, China, is one of the luxury accommodations provided to Paxton and other attorneys general during their 2019 trip. (Bob Henry/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“The Attorney General Alliance serves as a bipartisan forum where Attorneys General collaborate to share ideas, build relationships, and strengthen implementation through meetings, panels, working groups, and social activities,” said by Maestas, the deputy director and general counsel of AGA.
“Importantly, the AGA provides a unique environment where attorneys general can interact and discuss policy initiatives, leading to the development of key long-term relationships with both state and international partners,” continued he.
The AGA began as the Conference of Western Attorneys General, which still exists today as a program of the AGA, according to its website. CWAG’s most recent financial audit covering its finances for the year ending June 30, 2022, shows it has nearly $7.5 million in total assets.
AGA has received criticism for allegedly selling access to special interests, Axios reports last year. Chris Toth, who acted as executive director of the National Association of Attorneys General, made the comments in his June retirement letter.
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“I am increasingly alarmed by the growing influence of lobbyist and corporate money in the attorney general arena, particularly involving entities being investigated and/or sued by AGs,” Toth wrote in the letter, citing AGA and CWAG, which said “It appears to exist for no other reason than to give such actors access to attorneys general.”
“But the AGA’s funding model, e.g., a minimum contribution of $10k to attend their annual meeting, forecloses access to all but the most well-funded people and groups,” Toth wrote. “There is clearly no functional vetting mechanism for who gets access to and who can buy programming at AGA meetings.”
The Microsoft China Headquarters building is pictured in Haidian District, Beijing, on August 10, 2021. Paxton and other trip attendees toured the facility. (Costfoto/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Toth said this “puts AGs in a very compromising and potentially embarrassing situation,” adding that “AGA relies heavily on corporate and lobbyist money for its activities.”
“Dues account for only a very small portion of its revenue,” Toth wrote. “That means when you go on a delegation, lobbyists or corporations pay for that. When you pay for your room and board, some part of that comes from someone you’re investigating or suing.”
Toth’s former group distanced itself from his comments, saying they were “his statements only” and not on behalf of the National Association of Attorneys General.
The Texas House voted in May to impeach Paxton after a month-long House investigation into him led to 20 charges alleging abuse of power, obstruction of justice, bribery and abuse of public trust. The impeachment triggered the automatic suspension of Paxton who must now wait until the end of August for the Texas Senate impeachment trial.
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“The ugly spectacle in the Texas House today confirmed that the outrageous impeachment plot against me was never meant to be fair or just. It was a politically motivated sham from the beginning,” Paxton said in a statement afterward. of impeachment by the House.
Paxton and her husband’s offices did not respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiries for this story.
