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Report: Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson accused of having affair with former City Hall staffer

Mayor Eric L. Johnson at city council meeting Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, at Dallas City Hall.
Yfat Yossifor
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四虎影院
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson has come under public scrutiny prior to the reports about his divorce. Late last year 四虎影院 reported he had missed a significant number of council meetings.

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson has been accused of having an affair with a former city staffer and directing campaign funds to the staffer鈥檚 company. The claim came out during Johnson's divorce hearings and

According to the report, Nakita Johnson, the mayor鈥檚 wife, testified during the divorce hearing that she caught Mayor Johnson in their home 鈥 with another woman.

The divorce court records are sealed 鈥 an option frequently pursued by public figures and the wealthy 鈥 so it's unclear exactly what the original petition contained. 四虎影院 reached out to both Nakita and Mayor Johnson's attorneys.

A spokesperson from Hargrave Family Law, the firm representing Nakita, declined to comment. A spokesperson from KoonsFuller, the firm representing the mayor, said they typically do not "divulge" information about cases.

D Magazine鈥檚 Editorial Director Matt Goodman, who was in the courtroom during the proceedings, reported that it was Mayor Johnson who filed for divorce from his wife in March 2023.

鈥淸Nakita] testified that the mayor told her he had filed for divorce while she was cleaning dishes, following a family dinner, and had left the papers for her on a chair and said 鈥榠t was done鈥,鈥 Goodman said in the article.

Nakita also testified that Mayor Johnson had admitted to having an affair and that it had 鈥渉appened a dozen times or so and didn鈥檛 give much more than that,鈥 according to the D Magazine report.

Johnson denied the allegations 鈥 and his legal team said there was no evidence of the affair. But Nakita鈥檚 attorneys introduced evidence that was to the contrary 鈥 a photo from the home鈥檚 security system of the woman coming and leaving the Johnson鈥檚 residence in early 2021.

D Magazine withheld the name of the woman being accused of having an affair with Mayor Johnson 鈥 and included a statement from her saying she 鈥渃ould not more strongly categorically deny鈥 the claims.

Nakita鈥檚 attorneys also submitted evidence that links Mayor Johnson鈥檚 campaign spending to the woman鈥檚 firm during the last general election in 2023.

鈥淣akita鈥檚 attorneys鈥.presented the payments as evidence of the mayor鈥檚 personal and professional relationships with the woman,鈥 the report says.

According to D Magazine, the woman's firm was paid about $110,000 during Johnson's most recent campaign. The mayor ran basically unopposed 鈥 except for one write-in candidate.

News of the mayor鈥檚 divorce proceedings and the connection to a former City Hall staffer comes after D Magazine Editor Tim Rogers was subpoenaed as a witness for the Johnson鈥檚 divorce case.

According to , Rogers was asked to appear before the court because of a post on social media that characterized a certain leather jacket worn by Mayor Johnson as giving off 鈥渄ivorced-dad鈥 vibes.

鈥淭hen I made it clear I was kidding in the post, that the mayor was still married,鈥 Rogers said in a piece published before D Magazine鈥檚 full report on the divorce proceedings.

But, according to Rogers, that was enough for Mayor Johnson to accuse his wife of conspiring to 鈥渆mbarrass him.鈥

Goodman went along with Rogers to the hearing since witnesses are not allowed to be present during the proceedings unless they are called on by the judge.

Accusations of Johnson鈥檚 extramarital affairs comes after he has been the center of scrutiny in Dallas politics. Shortly after winning his reelection campaign, Johnson formally announced a switch to the Republican party 鈥 after serving in the Texas Legislature as a Democrat.

The switch did not shock City Hall insiders, but left some officials questioning his timing.

四虎影院 reported last year that Johnson has also been consistently absent from city council meetings, missing more full or partial meetings than any other current city council since being elected in 2019.

And the Dallas Morning News recently reported on Johnson鈥檚 D Magazine also reported on what the mayor was

Got a tip? Email Nathan Collins at ncollins@kera.org. You can follow Nathan on Twitter .

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Nathan Collins is the Dallas Accountability Reporter for 四虎影院. Collins joined the station after receiving his master鈥檚 degree in Investigative Journalism from Arizona State University. Prior to becoming a journalist, he was a professional musician.