Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced this week action against the groups allegedly responsible for assisting Texas state House Democrats who fled the state to avoid a redistricting vote.
On Thursday, Paxton’s office issued a press release declaring that it had opened another investigation, this time into a George Soros-funded political action committee that allegedly funded the Democrats’ abrupt exit.
‘The Governor fully supports using all necessary tools to discover potential legal violations connected to their refusal to appear for a quorum, conduct business, and cast votes.’
Texas Majority PAC, founded in December 2022 by campaign staffers of former Rep. Beto O-Rourke (D-Texas), was accused of “attempting to subvert the will of Texas voters” by “play[ing] a coordinating role in assisting with illegal fundraising and potentially the bribery of Texas House members.”
Paxton’s office described TMP as an “extremist group” with “a large, radical donor base.”
“If Texas lawmakers are bowing to the Soros Slush Fund rather than the will of the voters, Texans deserve to know. Getting financial payouts under the table to abandon your legislative duties is bribery,” Paxton said. “Texas Majority PAC’s actions seem to indicate that it may be using its Soros-funded resources to break the law and fund the illegal abandonment of public office. If that’s the case as determined by this investigation, there will be a heavy price to pay.”
Earlier this week, Paxton opened an investigation into O’Rourke’s Powered by People, accusing the organization of similar alleged “unlawful activity” regarding the House Democrats.
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Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas). SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
According to Paxton’s office, Powered by People potentially operated “an illegal financial influence scheme to bribe runaway Democrats who fled Texas to break quorum.”
The office’s press release on the matter claimed that the group may have “violated bribery laws,” as well as laws “governing campaign or officeholder contributions and expenditures, coercion of a public servant, and abuse of office.”
Paxton issued a request to examine both TMP and Powered by People, which requires the groups to provide his office with documents related to the investigations.
O’Rourke responded to Paxton’s probe into Powered by People in a post on social media, stating, “The guy impeached for bribery is going after the folks trying to stop the theft of five Congressional seats.”
He added, “Let’s stop these thugs before they steal our country.”
Paxton was acquitted of all 16 articles of impeachment in 2023.
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has also taken a firm stance against the Democratic House members, advocating for the potential arrest of absentee representatives and asking the state’s supreme court to remove those who have abandoned their offices.
The governor’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, told Blaze News, “Governor Abbott directed the Texas Rangers to investigate delinquent Texas House Democrats on potential violations of Texas law, including bribery. The Governor fully supports using all necessary tools to discover potential legal violations connected to their refusal to appear for a quorum, conduct business, and cast votes.”
Neither TMP nor Powered by People responded to a request for comment.
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