Beto O’Rourke-Led Group Under Investigation Over Potential Bribes To Help Runaway Texas Dems
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday that his office is investigating Powered by People, a political organization led by Democrat activist Beto O’Rourke, for allegedly providing illegal financial support to dozens of state Democrats who fled Texas to obstruct a legislative vote.
The probe centers on whether the group violated Texas laws on bribery, campaign finance, and abuse of office by offering monetary aid to approximately 50 Democratic lawmakers who left the state to avoid voting on Republican-backed congressional redistricting maps. Those lawmakers are now racking up $500 daily fines for failing to fulfill their legislative duties — fines that Powered by People is reportedly helping them cover.
“Any Democrat coward breaking the law by taking a Beto Bribe will be held accountable,” said Paxton. “Texas cannot be bought. These jet-setting runaways have already lost public trust by abandoning our state, and Texans deserve to know if they received illegal bribes to do it.”
The investigation raises questions about whether O’Rourke’s group crossed legal lines by financially incentivizing elected officials to abandon their responsibilities in Austin and disrupt the democratic process.
The redistricting vote in question is expected to yield five new Republican-leaning congressional seats, a move that Democrats have aggressively resisted. In response, dozens of Democratic lawmakers decamped to Illinois, a state already infamous for its own history of political gerrymandering, to prevent the Texas House from reaching a quorum.
Speaker of the Texas House Dustin Burrows has set a Friday deadline for the Democrats to return. In the meantime, the group has launched fundraising appeals online, with individual lawmakers and the House Democratic Caucus accepting donations as high as $2,500.
“We’re getting a lot of small-dollar donations, and that’s going to be used to help keep this thing going,” Democrat Caucus Chair Gene Wu told reporters.
But Republicans aren’t buying the grassroots image being sold. They point to the involvement of O’Rourke — a perennial failed candidate for Senate, governor, and president — and suggest this is a coordinated, donor-driven scheme to hijack Texas’ redistricting process.
Paxton’s investigation may also impact O’Rourke’s political future. Once a rising star in the Democratic Party, he is now under scrutiny for potentially orchestrating a financial operation that encouraged elected officials to abandon their posts and block legislation.
O’Rourke fired back at Paxton on social media, writing, “The guy impeached for bribery is going after the folks trying to stop the theft of five Congressional seats.” Paxton, however, was acquitted of those 2023 charges by the state Senate and has since announced a primary challenge against incumbent GOP Senator John Cornyn.
Meanwhile, federal authorities may be drawn into the standoff. Senator John Cornyn has already called on the FBI to help retrieve the runaway lawmakers. President Donald Trump weighed in earlier this week, stating that the bureau “may have to” get involved.
At the heart of this showdown is not only Texas’ redistricting map but also the broader question of whether outside money — especially from partisan activist groups — can be used to interfere with the basic responsibilities of elected officials. With the Paxton investigation underway and national attention mounting, Texas Democrats may soon find that their walkout comes with legal consequences.