Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation Wednesday into potential “unlawful activity” undertaken by former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s political group to help state Democratic lawmakers stay away from the capital amid a Republican-led effort to redraw congressional maps.
Paxton is probing whether Powered by People, a political action committee founded by O’Rourke in 2019, may have violated bribery and other state laws by “bankrolling” the more than 50 Texas House Democrats who have stalled a special legislative session by fleeing the state.
“Any Democrat coward breaking the law by taking a Beto Bribe will be held accountable,” Paxton said in a statement. “Texas cannot be bought. I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all of the documents and communications obtained throughout this investigation.”
“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.”
O’Rourke’s group, which reported having $3.5 million in cash at the end of June, has reportedly covered airfare, lodging and other logistical expenses the absent state reps have incurred, according to the Texas Tribune.
A 2021 effort by Texas Democrats to stall new state voting laws by fleeing the capital was similarly supported by Powered by People, which spent more than half a million dollars to back the stunt, the outlet reported at the time.
O’Rourke criticized Paxton’s investigation in an X post Wednesday, and referenced the AG’s own bribery scandal for which he was acquitted in 2023.
“The guy impeached for bribery is going after the folks trying to stop the theft of five Congressional seats,” O’Rourke wrote.
Asked about his group’s funding scheme in a CNN interview, the former congressman and Democratic presidential primary candidate said it was “absolutely” worth it.
“If we fail, the consolidation of authoritarian power in America will be nearly unstoppable,” O’Rourke argued, warning that the redistricting push – which could give Republicans five additional seats in the House of Representatives by the 2026 midterm elections – would “roll out a royal red carpet for a Trump third term.”
O’Rourke insisted that he believes the Democrats in hiding “can stay out long enough to stop this steal in Texas.”
As part of the investigation into Powered by People, Paxton has demanded documents and communications from the group regarding potentially unlawful activity, including its involvement in the Democrats’ scheme to break quorum, his office said in a statement.
