Ken Paxton
PoliticsTexas

Ken Paxton Seeks To Put Democrat Beto O’Rourke ‘Behind Bars’ Over Fundraising For AWOL Dems

RNN Staff

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is escalating his legal battle against Democrat Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke, vowing to put the former congressman “behind bars” for what he says is an open and willful defiance of a court order.

The fight stems from O’Rourke’s fundraising efforts for the group of more than 50 Texas Democrat lawmakers who fled the state earlier this month to block a vote on the Republican-led Congressional redistricting plan. Those lawmakers have been hiding out in Illinois to avoid arrest while Texas Republicans continue to push the map through the state legislature.

Last week, Tarrant County District Court Judge Megan Fahey issued a temporary restraining order barring O’Rourke and his political group, Powered by People, from providing any financial assistance to the rogue legislators — including covering their living expenses while they remain outside Texas. Paxton says O’Rourke ignored the order almost immediately.

At a rally, O’Rourke told supporters he would not back down, declaring, “There are no refs in this game, f*** the rules, we are going to win whatever it takes.” He also urged Democrat-led states to redraw their own congressional maps to take seats from Republicans, openly calling for an aggressive partisan power grab.

In a press release, Paxton blasted O’Rourke’s defiance, saying his “vulgar disdain for the rule of law” left the court no choice but to pursue jail time. “There is a referee — the Honorable Megan Fahey — and there are rules,” Paxton said. “A person violating a temporary restraining order can be fined up to $500 and jailed for up to six months. Given Robert Francis’s immense personal wealth and blatant disregard for the court, imprisonment is absolutely necessary to persuade him to obey the lawful order.”

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Paxton didn’t hold back in personalizing the fight. “Beto told me to ‘come and take,’ so I did and beat him in court. Now, he still thinks he’s above the law, so I’m working to put him behind bars,” he said.

O’Rourke fired back on social media, accusing Paxton of lying and abusing his office. “We alerted the Court that the AG’s office blatantly lied in its filing. We’re seeking maximum sanctions in response to his abuse of office,” O’Rourke wrote, calling Paxton a “corrupt, lying thug.”

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Paxton’s office launched an investigation into Powered by People last week after reports emerged that the group was bankrolling the runaway Democrats in Illinois. Those lawmakers face a $500 daily fine on top of the cost of their out-of-state lodging and travel.

The standoff is now entering its third week, with Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows’ Friday deadline for their return long past. The Democrats have signaled they will stay away until the end of the special session — but Governor Greg Abbott has promised to make that strategy pointless.

“I’m authorized to call a special session every 30 days,” Abbott said. “As soon as this one is over, I’m gonna call another one, then another one, then another one. If they show back up in Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the capitol. If they want to evade that arrest, they’re gonna have to stay outside of the state for literally years.”

With both sides digging in, the legal and political showdown has become a test of will — and for O’Rourke, Paxton’s latest move could mean that his hardball rhetoric lands him somewhere far from Illinois or Washington: a Texas jail cell.

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