Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into a political organization led by former presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke for helping Texas Democrats block newly proposed congressional maps.
In a Wednesday afternoon press release, Paxton said the O’Rourke-led group, Powered by People, may have violated bribery, campaign finance and abuse of office laws, citing “public reports” that Powered by People was “bankrolling” the Texas House Democrats.
The organization’s purported involvement in helping fund Democrats’ out-of-state travels was first reported by The Texas Tribune. POLITICO has not independently confirmed the report.
“The guy impeached for bribery is going after the folks trying to stop the theft of five Congressional seats,” O’Rourke said in response to Paxton’s announcement. “Let’s stop these thugs before they steal our country.”
Paxton — a Republican who is also primarying Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) — has vowed to seek the expulsion of Democratic state lawmakers who fled the state this weekend to prevent the legislature from hitting quorum, preventing Republicans from passing a gerrymandered congressional map that could give the party as many as five more House seats in the midterm elections.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott attempted to accelerate the process by filing an emergency petition against Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu with the state’s Supreme Court on Tuesday. But Paxton and Abbott face legal and procedural hurdles as they attempt to force Democrats back to the state for the special session called by Abbott last month.
“Texas cannot be bought. I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all of the documents and communications obtained throughout this investigation,” Paxton said in the press release. “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.”
Paxton also said he had issued a “Request to Examine,” requiring the organization to supply his office with documents and communications related to its alleged involvement in the quorum break.
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