The Democratic nominee for governor says he wants the public to hear how Gov. Greg Abbott put Warren’s profits over people of Texas.
Democratic nominee for governor Beto O’Rourke on Monday denied allegations that he defamed billionaire oil executive Kelcy Warren and demanded a trial by jury.
In a legal filing in San Saba County, O’Rourke did not seek immediate dismissal of the case, and he later told The Dallas Morning News that he welcomed the chance to have the case against him unfold in view of Texas residents and voters.
“Defendant denies each and every, all and singular, the allegations asserted by Plaintiff in his Original Petition and demand strict proof thereof by a preponderance of the evidence as required by the laws and Constitution of the State of Texas,” lawyers for O’Rourke said in the filing that was due at midnight Tuesday.
Along with demanding a public trial, O’Rourke asked that the venue be moved from San Saba County to El Paso County, where O’Rourke lives. He noted that Warren is registered to vote in Dallas County, not San Saba where the suit was filed. He said the change of venue would help him publicize his crusade against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and energy industry officials.
“I am ready for this fight,” O’Rourke said in a statement given to The News. “And like all Texans, I look forward to hearing Abbott explain to us why he chose the profits of his corporate donors instead of the people of Texas.”
O’Rourke, a former congressman from El Paso, has made the winter storm and its aftermath a key cog in his campaign against Abbott. Much of O’Rourke’s criticism of Abbott and the energy industry came before and during his multicity tour across Texas that coincided with the February anniversary of the winter storm. The historic weather event left millions without power and resulted in the deaths of over 240 people.
“Warren’s frivolous lawsuit makes the case for why we need new leadership in this state — leadership that will look out for families instead of corporations, leadership that can keep the lights on and the people of Texas safe,” O’Rourke said.
Warren’s lawsuit against O’Rourke was filed Feb. 22 in San Saba County, where Warren owns property. It describes O’Rourke as a “failed politician” and demands he stop making and retract falsehoods made about Warren.
“O’Rourke intentionally, repeatedly, and widely disseminated his deliberate and defamatory falsehoods through publicly released messages on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites and during speaking engagements and interviews,” the lawsuit states. “O’Rourke intended that his malicious and baseless defamatory statements publicly humiliate Warren and discourage others from contributing to Governor Abbott’s campaign.”
Warren’s lawsuit says O’Rourke went beyond normal political talking points.
“That Warren has committed felonies in a purported effort to profit off the suffering of his fellow Texans are completely out of bounds for any speech, let alone as talking points for a candidate for the Governor of the State of Texas,” the lawsuit states. “The accusations go well beyond the sorts of vague and generalized accusations of political and corporate corruption that are often thrown around; rather, they focus on a particular person, a particular campaign contribution, at a specific point in time, and a particular purported favor done in exchange for the contribution.”
Warren is an active donor to Republican candidates, including former President Donald Trump. He’s made political contributions to Abbott for several election cycles. In the lawsuit Warren says he donated $1 million to Abbott’s campaign because the incumbent governor was facing a challenge in the GOP primary from former state Sen. Donald Huffines, who had the ability to self-fund a bid for governor.
But O’Rourke isn’t buying it. He has said energy companies “illegally” profited from the storm and with Abbott’s consent, adding that Abbott was warned that the grid would not be able to handle a massive winter storm but did nothing.
“He got millions in campaign contributions; we got a broken grid and higher utility bills each month,” O’Rourke said of Abbott and his political donations from Warren and others.
In response to O’Rourke’s original comments about the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Energy Transfer said Warren is not interested in muzzling O’Rourke from talking about the storm or Abbott. The statement added that it is the right of “every Texan and every American to contribute to the campaigns of candidates they support without being defamed in the process.”
“Beto O’Rourke clearly hasn’t read or doesn’t understand the lawsuit filed personally by Kelcy Warren. Mr. Warren is not interested in barring Mr. O’Rourke from talking about the winter storm. That is the right of every Texan and every American,” the statement from the company said. “What Mr. Warren is interested in stopping are the irresponsible, defamatory and highly offensive statements by Mr. O’Rourke related to his donation to Governor Abbott’s campaign.”
O’Rourke and some energy experts don’t believe the state’s electric grid has truly been bolstered to protect residents against another severe storm, even though the legislature approved a basket of laws that Abbott said has made the grid more reliable than ever.
According to news reports, energy companies reaped $11 billion from massive rate hikes related to the storm. Abbott received about $4.6 million in campaign contributions from energy company officials.
“Kelcy Warren and Greg Abbott want us to stop talking about how Warren’s company made over $2 billion in profits while Texans were freezing to death, and then turned around and gave $1 million to Abbott’s campaign,” O’Rourke said. “But no matter how much money they have, or how hard they try to silence me in the courts, I will never back down from standing up for the people of Texas.”
