Texas AG Paxton files motion to hold ‘Beto’ O’Rourke in contempt of court, urges judge to ‘lock him up’

Last week, a Texas judge issued a temporary restraining order to stop former Rep. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke (D-TX) from raising funds to support the Texas House Democrats who fled the state to delay a Republican redistricting effort, but the failed politician blatantly and belligerently defied that court order.

Now, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a motion for O’Rourke to be held in contempt of court and is asking the judge to “lock him up” in jail, Breitbart reported.

It appears that Paxton has the law on his side, as there is no question that the ex-congressman deliberately and explicitly violated the court order against him, which should result in a $500 fine and up to six months behind bars, per Texas law.

O’Rourke violated court order, said “f–k the rules”

On Friday, Tarrant County Judge Megan Fahey issued a temporary restraining order that barred O’Rourke and his nonprofit group, Powered by People, from engaging in “unlawful fundraising practices” in support of the Texas House Democrats who absconded from the state to break quorum and prevent their Republican colleagues from passing congressional redistricting legislation.

The order specifically prohibited O’Rourke from raising or using funds for “improper, unlawful, and non-political purposes” that included “funding out-of-state travel, hotel, or dining accommodations or services” for the absent legislators, or to pay their daily accruing fines for the unexcused absences.

Yet, less than 24 hours later, an openly defiant O’Rourke held a fundraiser event in Fort Worth, during which he explicitly urged the rally-goers to donate to his organization in support of the Texas House Democrats who fled the state, and said that Texas AG Paxton “tried to stop us from holding this rally here today in Fort Worth, he tried to stop us from raising money to support these Democrats in the fight — he lost — and one of the worst things that we could do to Ken Paxton is to right now choose to donate, to have the backs of these fighters.”

He went on to urge other Democrat-led states to engage in similar mid-decade redistricting, and added that “there are no refs in this game, f–k the rules, we are going to win whatever it takes.”

“It’s time to lock him up”

Paxton wasted little time in responding to O’Rourke’s open defiance of the court order against him and announced in a press release on Tuesday that he had filed with the court a motion for O’Rourke to be held in contempt for violating the judge’s directive.

Citing O’Rourke’s statement at the Fort Worth fundraiser event that “there are no refs in this game, f–k the rules,” the release from Paxton observed, “Robert Francis is wrong on both counts. There is a referee — the Honorable Megan Fahey — and there are rules — namely, that a person violating a temporary restraining order can be fined up to $500 and jailed for up to six months.”

Noting the ex-congressman’s “vulgar disdain for the rule of law and immense personal wealth,” Paxton asserted that “imprisonment is absolutely necessary” to compel his compliance with the court’s order.

“Beto told me ‘to come and take,’ so I did and beat him in court,” Paxton said in a statement. “Now, he still thinks he’s above the law, so I’m working to put him behind bars.”

“Robert Francis flagrantly and knowingly violated the court order I secured that prevents him from raising funds and distributing any more Beto Bribes,” the attorney general added. “He’s about to find out that running your mouth and ignoring the rule of law has consequences in Texas. It’s time to lock him up.”

Not his first run-in with the law

O’Rourke, who previously served in Congress before launching failed campaigns for the U.S. Senate, presidency, and governorship of Texas, has run afoul of the law in the Lone Star state at least once before, according to Breitbart.

In 1998, O’Rourke was arrested and charged with drunk driving and was further accused by the arresting officers of attempting to flee from the scene of a crime, but he was let off lightly with the charges dismissed after he completed a court-approved diversionary program.

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