Update: AG Paxton Secures Major Victory Stopping Runaway Democrats from Taking “Beto Bribes”
August 8, 2025 | Austin, TX
Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a major victory against Robert Francis O’Rourke and his radical organization, Powered by People, by stopping continued unlawful fundraising activity, including potentially operating a misleading financial-influence scheme to fund runaway Democrats who fled Texas to break quorum.
A Texas district court has granted a temporary restraining order, halting all unlawful expenditures and fundraising while the litigation continues. This victory comes just a few hours after filing the initial lawsuit.
“The Beto Bribe buyouts that were bankrolling the runaway Democrats have been officially stopped,” said Attorney General Paxton. “People like Robert believe Texas can be bought. Today, I stopped his deceptive financial influence scheme that attempted to deceive donors and subvert our constitutional process. They told me to ‘come and take it,’ so I did.”
Earlier today, Attorney General Paxton sued O’Rourke and Powered by People for intentionally misleading 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.
In addition to successfully stopping the “Beto Bribes,” Attorney General Paxton filed a historic lawsuit against 13 of the runaway Democrats, asking the Texas Supreme Court to hold that they vacated their offices by abandoning Texas. Further, he has opened an investigation into a Soros-funded group for also underwriting the quorum break and moves to enforce the Quorum Warrants in Illinois.
To read the restraining order, click here.