Paxton Files Emergency Motion to Defend Tarrant County Jurisdiction Amid Legal Clash with Beto O’Rourke

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has filed an emergency application for a temporary restraining order in Tarrant County District Court, seeking to protect the court’s jurisdiction after an El Paso judge issued a contested anti-suit injunction.

The legal dispute centers on Paxton’s ongoing effort to revoke the corporate charter of Powered by People, a political organization founded by former Congressman Beto O’Rourke (D).

Paxton accuses the group of operating an “unlawful fundraising scheme” and previously secured a temporary restraining order against the organization in Tarrant County.

However, on August 19, a judge in El Paso issued a temporary restraining order that purportedly blocks Paxton from pursuing further legal action in Tarrant County.

Paxton’s office contends the El Paso order is “unfounded” and represents a judicial overreach that could “ignite a constitutional crisis.”

“A biased El Paso judge is threatening to ignite a constitutional crisis in a desperate bid to protect Robert Francis,” said Paxton. “The court has no authority to give itself appellate jurisdiction over an independent court hundreds of miles away.”

The Attorney General’s emergency filing in Tarrant County argues that jurisdiction lies solely with that court and seeks to block interference from outside jurisdictions. The motion further underscores what Paxton describes as an effort by O’Rourke to “switch referees” after facing setbacks in the original venue.

O’Rourke, who allegedly dismissed the legal process by stating “there are no referees in this game, fuck the rules,” has not publicly responded to Paxton’s latest legal filing.

Legal observers are watching the case closely for its potential implications on inter-jurisdictional authority, political nonprofit regulation, and the limits of anti-suit injunctions in Texas.