Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a motion to hold Democrat activist Robert Francis O’Rourke in contempt of court, accusing the former congressman and failed statewide candidate of violating a Tarrant County judge’s temporary restraining order.
According to Paxton’s motion, O’Rourke has blatantly violated the court order by “continuing to fundraise and pay for the personal expenses of runaway Democrat legislators.” Paxton’s filing states that less than 24 hours after the restraining order was signed, O’Rourke rallied and told a crowd of hundreds in Fort Worth he would continue to fundraise for the derelict Democrats who fled Texas to break quorum.
During his speech, O’Rourke openly defied the restrictions placed on him by the judge, telling the crowd of Democrats, “there are no refs in this game, f*** the rules.”
Paxton, however, is hoping the judge will enforce the rules against O’Rourke.
“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,” Paxton said in a press release. “Robert Francis flagrantly and knowingly violated the court order I secured that prevents him from raising funds and distributing any more Beto Bribes. He’s about to find out that running your mouth and ignoring the rule of law has consequences in Texas. It’s time to lock him up.”
The motion further argues O’Rourke violated the temporary restraining order when he “posted on ActBlue’s fundraising page on X and solicited donations for the express purpose of ‘hav[ing] the backs of our Texas Democrats in this fight,’” and again when O’Rourke requested attendees at the Fort Worth rally to donate to Texas Democrats through ActBlue.
O’Rourke has battled back against Paxton with his own legal filings, but hasn’t been victorious. On August 13, El Paso Judge Annabell Perez rejected O’Rourke’s countersuit against Paxton, pushing the proceeding for the Tarrant County suit against O’Rourke to be held on August 14.
“Accountability is coming,” Paxton wrote on X following the ruling.
If the court rules in favor of Paxton’s motion, O’Rourke could be subject to a $500 fine for each individual act of contempt and/or confinement in the county jail for no more than six months.