GOP lawmaker bucks Trump over his Senate pick's 'deal' with 'dangerous predator’

Republican Texas state Rep. Jeff Leach, who’s “proudly endorsed by President Donald Trump,” bucked the president Sunday night over his endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his race for U.S. Senate, and suggested that voters support Paxton’s GOP opponent instead.

Leach’s reasoning for breaking with the president, he explained in a social media post on X, was a plea deal that Paxton’s office had offered former attorney Adam Hoffman, who last month was sentenced to 60 days in jail for “sexually abusing a young boy” over a three-year period.

Hoffman was originally facing a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, but after the local district attorney recused himself, Paxton’s office took over the case and offered him the chance to plead guilty to “two misdemeanors and serve a total of just one day in jail,” The Texas Tribune reported.

“Tomorrow morning, May 25th 2026, [Hoffman] will be released from McLennan County Jail after spending just a few weeks there. He will not be required to register as a sex offender. And very soon he’ll be allowed to practice law again,” Leach wrote.

“A real and dangerous predator – a present threat to Texas children – will be as free as you and me. A slap on his wrist and a spit in the face to his victim. Why?! How?! Because that’s the deal he made with Ken Paxton. Vote accordingly.”

Trump officially endorsed Paxton last week, backing the controversial state attorney general over the incumbent Republican senator, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), and in large part, according to reports, due to MAGA uproar.