Texas AG Ken Paxton says Beto O’Rourke deserves jail over his Fort Worth rally
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking a Tarrant County judge to hold Beto O’Rourke in contempt of court after he held a rally in Fort Worth supporting House Democrats who are breaking quorum to try and block mid-decade congressional redistricting.
The Saturday event in Fort Worth, “The People vs. The Power Grab,” drew thousands in person and virtually to rally support for the fight against a proposed congressional map and to raise money for the House Democrats, many of whom have departed Austin to stop action on the map in the Texas Legislature. Lawmakers are currently meeting for a special session called by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
A flurry of litigation has ensued in the days since Democratic lawmakers left for states like Illinois and New York. Among the legal action is an Aug. 8 lawsuit by Paxton in the 348th District Court in Tarrant County seeking an injunction that would block O’Rourke and his Powered by People organization from helping fund costs related to Democratic representatives’ quorum break.
Tarrant County District Judge Megan Fahey, a Republican first appointed to the bench by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2019, sided with Paxton in a court order issued hours after the lawsuit was filed Friday. In a temporary restraining order, Fahey ruled that O’Rourke and his organization – effective immediately – could not financially support the lawmakers.
O’Rourke, a former Texas congressman who has unsuccessfully run for the U.S. Senate, governor and president, was already scheduled to hold the Fort Worth rally and said on X that he planned to continue with the event. His social media post came just minutes after the Attorney General’s office distributed a news release cheering the court order as a “major victory.”
“He wants to silence me and stop me from leading this organization,” O’Rourke said of Paxton. “He wants to stop us from fighting Trump’s attempt to steal the five congressional seats he needs to hang on to power. But I’m not going anywhere.”
In a Tuesday motion, Paxton argued O’Rourke violated the court’s order by actively raising funds for House Democrats. The motion makes note of the Saturday event at Fort Worth’s Ridglea Theatre, where O’Rourke was joined by a handful of elected officials.
Contempt of a District Court is punishable by a fine of $500 and/or up to six months in county jail.
Paxton says O’Rourke deserves jail unless he complies
The motion requests that a hearing be set and O’Rourke and his organization each be found in contempt and fined $500. O’Rourke should also face jail time “unless and until he demonstrates a willingness to abide by the Court’s orders pending the outcome of this lawsuit,” the Attorney General’s office argues.
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“Beto told me ‘to come and take,’ so I did and beat him in court,” Paxton said in a statement. “Now, he still thinks he’s above the law, so I’m working to put him behind bars.”
Referring to O’Rourke by his legal name, Paxton continued: “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.”
Chris Evans, a spokesperson for O’Rourke, told the Star-Telegram on Aug. 6 that O’Rourke had been traveling the country to raise awareness about what’s happening in Texas and to raise money for the House Democratic Caucus. Evans told the Houston Chronicle that Powered by People had paid for transportation and lodging costs for the Democrats.
Paxton has cast the fundraising as bribery.
A board member for Powered by the People, David Mills Wysong, said in court documents that between June 1 and Aug. 11, “no transfers of funds, or provision of other benefits, have been made by Powered by People to any Texas Democratic lawmaker, including any lawmaker in Tarrant County.”
The documents say that the Fort Worth rally was a political event “to generate public support and political action against Governor Abbott’s efforts to unconstitutionally redistrict the State of Texas.”
“Powered by People did not sell any goods or services at the political rally,” the documents read. “Powered by People did not make any offers to fundraise or help pay for legislative fines, hotel, and travel expenses in exchange for any political action or restraint.”
A livestream of the Saturday event included a number that viewers could text to “help Democrats stop Trump’s power grab.” Fundraising emails from Powered by People have also gone out since the Aug. 8 court order.
Attorneys for O’Rourke and Powered by People have asked the Tarrant County court to move the case to El Paso County, where he is already suing Paxton, court records show.
A hearing in the Tarrant County-based case is set for Aug. 19.
Meanwhile, a special session in Austin could come to a close Friday. State leaders announced Tuesday plans to end the current special session if a quorum isn’t met by then and immediately start a new one.
The Texas Senate passed the map at the center of the debate on Tuesday, with most Senate Democrats walking out for the vote.
Beto O’Rourke responds, calls Paxton a ‘corrupt, lying thug’
O’Rourke responded to Paxton’s claim that he acted in contempt of court in a Tuesday afternoon post on X, sharing a video from the Fort Worth rally.
In the roughly 30-second clip from Saturday, O’Rourke said Democratic-led states should redraw their congressional districts now, and not wait for Texas to act first, in order to “maximize Democratic Party advantage.”
“Listen, you may say to yourself, ‘well those aren’t the rules,’” O’Rourke told the crowd. “There are no refs in this game. ... We are going to win whatever it takes. We are going to take this to them in every way that we can.“
A portion of the remarks were referenced in Paxton’s news release asserting that O’Rourke should be held in contempt of court and the accompanying court filing. The release states that, O’Rourke told the crowd “he would continue fundraising in violation of the restraining order because ‘there are no refs in this game.’
“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.”
O’Rourke pushed back in his social media post.
“He’s lying about me to try to silence us,” O’Rourke said. “Here’s the full clip. I mean every word. 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. Taking the fight directly to this corrupt, lying thug.”
Attorneys for O’Rourke and Powered by People argued in a Tuesday court filing that the former congressman’s comment was misrepresented to make it seem like he was talking about the court.
The attorneys also argue that Paxton’s office is misrepresenting the judge’s Friday order.
Paxton’s office is implying that “any fundraising violates the” order “when they know full well that it does not,” the document states.
Star-Telegram reporter Rachel Royster contributed to this story.
This story was originally published August 12, 2025 at 1:33 PM.
