Overview
- Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a contempt motion in Tarrant County seeking $500 per violation and up to six months in jail for O’Rourke’s alleged breach of an August 8 restraining order.
- Paxton’s filing points to O’Rourke’s Fort Worth rally remarks urging text donations and subsequent social-media solicitations as evidence of contempt.
- O’Rourke and his lawyers deny any violations and have lodged a counter-lawsuit in El Paso to block Paxton’s investigation into Powered by People.
- Judge Megan Fahey has scheduled a hearing on August 19 to consider a permanent injunction and resolve the contempt claims.
- More than 50 Democrats remain out of state to deny Republicans a quorum over a mid-decade congressional map that could add several GOP seats ahead of 2026.