
By Nick Arama. Media: Redstate
We’ve been covering some of the actions being taken to corral the runaway Democrats who fled Texas to break the quorum, in hopes of stopping the redistricting plan from passing.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has taken legal action to try to bring them back, asking for the removal of the lead runaway, Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu. Texas law enforcement is tracking them down, and even the FBI is reportedly involved now.
Meanwhile, Abbott dropped a further hammer on them that their tactics weren’t going to succeed, saying earlier on Friday that he’s just going to keep calling special sessions until they come back. If they kept this up, he might try to expand the restricting plan from five to eight seats, so it could get worse for them if they keep playing these games. They were also notified they have to show up in person to get paid.
Attorney General Ken Paxton upped the ante as well. He sued Beto O’Rourke, and O’Rourke’s group, Powered by People alleging “unlawful fundraising activity including potentially operating a misleading financial-influence scheme” to fund the runaway Democrats. His office released a statement on Friday.
“Democrat runaways are likely accepting Beto Bribes to underwrite their jet-setting sideshow in far-flung places and misleadingly raising political funds to pay for personal expenses,” said Attorney General Paxton. “This out-of-state, cowardly cabal is abandoning their constitutional duties. I will not allow failed political has-beens to buy off Texas elected officials. I’ll see you in court, Beto.”
O’Rourke and Powered by People intentionally misled donors to fund runaway Democrats’ personal expenses, despite advertising it as political fundraising. By knowingly blurring the distinction, O’Rourke and Powered by People sought to take advantage of uninformed donors by directing them to explicitly political fundraising platforms, all while intending to use the funds for purposes they understood to be constituted as personal expenditures. Texas law prohibits organizations from engaging in false, misleading, and deceptive acts, such as the fundraising scheme operated by O’Rourke and Powered by People.
The statement said, “Paxton is seeking a temporary restraining order and an injunction preventing O’Rourke and Powered by People from continuing to raise or distribute money” to fund the runaway Democrats.
Now, Paxton has just announced that he “secured a major victory,” saying the Texas district court “granted a temporary restraining order, halting all unlawful expenditures and fundraising while the litigation continues.”
“They told me to ‘come and take it,’ so I did,” Paxton declared. That decision comes within hours of the action being filed.
That’s going to put a little crimp in the efforts of the runaway Democrats. Their options are starting to run out.
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