Paxton to Probe Beto O’Rourke’s Organization Over Funding for Quorum-Breaking Dems

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday announced he was launching an investigation into former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s political organization to determine if its fundraising on behalf of Texas Democrats who fled the state amounts to bribery.

Texas House Democrats skipped town Sunday to deny Republicans a quorum as they attempted to carry out a partisan, mid-decade redistricting effort on behalf of President Donald Trump that would give the GOP an estimated five more seats in the next Congress.

“Any Democrat coward breaking the law by taking a Beto Bribe will be held accountable,” Paxton wrote on X.

In a Wednesday afternoon press release, Paxton accused O’Rourke’s “radical organization,” Powered by People, of convincing Texas House Democrats to leave the state through bribery, campaign finance violations and potential abuse of office.

“Texas cannot be bought. I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all of the documents and communications obtained throughout this investigation,” Paxton’s release reads. “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 Texas Tribune on Tuesday first reported the organization’s involvement in fundraising for the Democrats’ travel expenses.

O’Rourke waved off the accusations in a statement to the Tribune.

“The guy impeached for bribery is going after the folks trying to stop the theft of five Congressional seats,” he said. “Let’s stop these thugs before they steal our country.”

Paxton’s move is the latest escalation in a tense standoff between the two parties, and comes just a day after Sen. John Cornyn sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel asking for the bureau to help locate and potentially arrest the Democrats.

The state House, with most of the chamber’s Democrats absent, voted Monday to issue civil arrest warrants for the lawmakers who fled the state.

Gov. Greg Abbott also threatened to remove them from office and filed an emergency petition with the state’s Supreme Court to unseat the House Democratic caucus chair, Gene Wu.

Paxton, who is running against Sen. John Cornyn for his U.S. Senate seat, has set a Friday deadline for the lawmakers to return to the state or face “aggressive legal action.”

“Democrats have abandoned their offices by fleeing Texas, and a failure to respond to a call of the House constitutes a dereliction of their duty as elected officials,” Paxton said in a release on Tuesday.

“Starting Friday, any rogue lawmakers refusing to return to the House will be held accountable for vacating their office. The people of Texas elected lawmakers, not jet-setting runaways looking for headlines. If you don’t show up to work, you get fired.”

The lawmakers who fled Sunday night went to major Democratic hotspots in Chicago, New York and California. On Wednesday morning, the hotel hosting members in Illinois was evacuated due to a bomb threat. Officials conducted a sweep of the property and found no bomb, and Texas state lawmakers staying there were quick to blame Republicans.

“This is what happens when Republican state leaders publicly call for us to be ‘hunted down,’” Democratic state Rep. John Bucy III posted to X. “Texas Democrats won’t be intimidated.”