Paxton urges arrest of Beto O'Rourke in contempt motion

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday filed a motion to hold Beto O'Rourke in contempt of court over his fundraising efforts for the Texas Democrats who fled the state over a redistricting effort.

Paxton previously sued O'Rourke, alleging that he was raising personal funds for those Democrats while falsely labeling the effort as a political fundraiser. Paxton secured a court order to stop O'Rourke, who has allegedly continued his efforts. Paxton specifically highlighted comments from O'Rourke after the decision in which he said “there are no refs in this game, f*** the rules.”

"Robert Francis is wrong on both counts. There is a referee—the Honorable Megan Fahey—and there are rules—namely, that a person violating a temporary restraining order can be fined up to $500 and jailed for up to six months," stated a press release from Paxton's office. "Given Robert Francis’s vulgar disdain for the rule of law and immense personal wealth, imprisonment is absolutely necessary to persuade him to obey the lawful restraining order issued by the Tarrant County court."

The motion stated that "O’Rourke and Powered by People ('PBP') proceeded to raise funds in direct violation of this Court’s TRO by actively soliciting donations through the ActBlue platform to fund the personal expenses of unexcused Texas legislators."

"[T]he State requests Defendant O’Rourke be confined to jail unless and until he demonstrates a willingness to abide by the Court’s orders pending the outcome of this lawsuit," it added.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.