Attorney General Ken Paxton has made an emergency filing with the Texas Supreme Court following a deeply flawed and unprecedented decision by the newly formed Fifteenth Court of Appeals that puts a hold on a series of thoughtful orders from a trial court that restrained the fraudulent activities of repeat loser, Beto O’Rourke, and protects him from discovery and an upcoming temporary-injunction hearing.

“The Fifteenth Court of Appeals has put its finger on the scales in a blindly political attempt to aid fraudster Beto O’Rourke, and that decision should immediately be overturned,” said Attorney General Paxton. “This completely unprecedented order, which was done with zero regard for the Texans who’ve been scammed by Robert Francis, is a gift to Beto designed intentionally to allow him to resume his deceptive scheme without allowing my office to respond. It’s an insult to the people of Texas, an affront to our judicial system, and a disastrous precedent if allowed to continue without being reversed.” 

Attorney General Paxton continued, “I will stop at nothing to ensure Beto O’Rourke and his radical organization are held accountable to the full extent of the law, which is exactly why I’m urging the Texas Supreme Court to take action.”

Without allowing Attorney General Paxton and the State of Texas to respond, the Fifteenth Court of Appeals abruptly stopped a September 2 hearing regarding Attorney General Paxton’s motion for contempt and his effort to secure a temporary injunction against Beto and Powered by People for their unlawful activity. 

The hearing was frozen to allow the Fifteenth Court of Appeals to consider Beto’s haphazard, eleventh-hour mandamus petition challenging several temporary restraining orders that Attorney General Paxton already secured against Beto for his fraudulent fundraising scheme. This, again, is a historically unprecedented decision by the Fifteenth Court of Appeals. Further, given the schedule that the Fifteenth Court of Appeals set for the case, Beto will be allowed to resume his fraudulent scheme without even allowing the State to respond and prove to the court how he’s hurting Texans.

Attorney General Paxton immediately appealed the order to the Texas Supreme Court and asked it to vacate the appeals court’s decision. 

To read the letter to the Texas Supreme Court, click here.