Cornyn’s Recycled Attacks on Paxton Echo Bush Ties, Risk Trump Endorsement

John Cornyn said recently that he needs to close the gap in the polls in his race against Ken Paxton in order to potentially land a Trump endorsement. But he’s currently attempting to drive Paxton’s numbers down using recycled attacks that failed against Paxton three years ago.

In May, Cornyn’s campaign launched a website attacking Ken Paxton (CrookedKen.com), labeling him “crooked.” But the site is essentially a copycat of a website (KenTheCrook.com) launched by George P. Bush during his primary race against Paxton in May 2022. Trump endorsed Paxton in that race.

It’s no surprise that Cornyn’s campaign is copying George P. Bush’s campaign, because they’re run by the same people.

• Cornyn’s general consultant is Rob Jesmer of FP1. FP1 has strong ties to Bush family politicians.

• FP1 was also the general consultant to George P Bush in 2022.

But the Bush/FP1 connections don’t end there.

Cornyn has hired Chris LaCivita as a senior advisor to his super pac, Texans for a Conservative Majority.

• LaCivita currently works at FP1’s sister company, PLUS Communications. He previously was a partner at FP1 Strategies.
• LaCivita worked on George P Bush’s failed 2022 campaign against Paxton, and called Bush “a dynamic, next-generation conservative leader.”
• LaCivita still works with George P Bush — they are both colleagues at Michael Best Strategies. Bush welcomed LaCivita to the firm in a LinkedIn comment 3 months ago.

• Independent expenditures recently reported by the PAC show payments to Full Reach Media Group for media placement. This is an FP1 shell company (never reported — but inadvertently revealed by a 2022 misfiled National Association of Broadcasters form in Montana).
  • In 2022, FP1’s Director Media Buying Natalie Szemetylo filed a National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Form PB-19 in Montana that drew a complaint. Her error revealed that as an FP1 employee she was placing ad buys for Full Reach. Responding the complaint, lawyers for Full Reach said that Szemetylo “worked off a previously filed form prepared for a different client’s order and simply failed to change the first line on the form (identifying the entity requesting station time).” 

George P. Bush is the son of Jeb Bush, whose presidential campaign was staffed by FP1 employees, including founding Partners Danny Diaz and Jon Downs.

• Downs also worked on the presidential campaigns of John McCain, Mitt Romney, and George W. Bush.

• FP1 was on contract to produce anti-Trump ads for Jeb Bush’s 2016 campaign.

Bush political operative Karl Rove is closely tied to Cornyn.

• Rove is hosted a fundraiser for Cornyn in May.
• Rove campaigned for Cornyn at a rally in 2014. At the time, records filed with the FCC by Cornyn’s super pacTexans for a Conservative Majority listed an address in the same building in Virginia as Rove’s American Crossroads PAC.

• Cornyn said in 2014 that Rove has “been a friend of mine for a long time.”

Both Cornyn and FP1 have worked to increase American taxpayer funding for Ukraine.

• Cornyn has dedicated dozens of press releases on his website to promoting his efforts to fund the war in Ukraine. 
• FP1’s PLUS Communications, where LaCivita works, boasts of its work for the Ukrainian PR Army, a foreign non-profit helping to advance “a global call for aid and arms.” PLUS also has a $70,000/month contract for a group called Stand with Ukraine. (Reported by Politico in March 2025)

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