Beto O'Rourke Sued For Defamation, Slander By North Texas Billionaire
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Democratic candidate for Governor, Beto O'Rourke is being sued for defamation and slander by an energy company executive.
O'Rourke announced the lawsuit during a news conference Monday afternoon in Dallas.
Kelcy Warren, the former CEO and current executive chairman of Energy Transfer filed the lawsuit against O'Rourke February 18 in San Saba County, which is in West Central Texas.
Warren is seeking more than $1 million.
According to the 19-page complaint, "Defendant O'Rourke began a relentless and malicious attack on Warren by accusing him of serious crimes including extortion, bribery, and corrupt influence simply because Warren made a campaign contribution to Governor Abbott in June 2021 and is the former CEO of Energy Transfer. Defendant O'Rourke's malicious statements about plaintiff Warren constitute defamation."
During the news conference, O'Rourke said Warren had previously sent him a cease-and-desist letter demanding he stop making the statements.
But O'Rourke said Monday he didn't back down then and he won't now. "He is following through on his threat, and he is going to try to take me to court, use his billions of dollars to try to shut me down and shut us up from telling the story of what happened to the people of Texas."
Bloomberg reported last year that Warren's company made $2.4 billion during the February 2021 storms.
In the lawsuit, Warren said he donated $1 million to the Governor's campaign in June of last year after former State Senator Don Huffines of Dallas entered the race.
O'Rourke accused energy companies of making money illegally during the freeze, but no company has been formally charged with any wrongdoing about this.
In January, the state announced it updated the number of people who died during the storm to 246, but critics have said they believe the death toll is much higher.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission continues to investigate whether any energy companies manipulated the market during the storm so they could make money.
O'Rourke said his campaign would spend money to defend him from the lawsuit. "We're looking forward to being able to continue showing this story whether it's in a courtroom or it's in the court of public opinion. We're going to make sure the people of Texas have the facts."
The candidate also rejected Warren's lawsuit. "He is now trying to shut us down in the courts through a frivolous lawsuit and I wanted to make sure you heard that directly from me here first."
Energy Transfer issued a statement late Monday afternoon saying, "Mr. Warren is not interested in barring Mr. O'Rourke from talking about the winter storm. That is the right of every Texans and every American. 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. This is also the right of every Texan and every American to contribute to the campaigns of candidates they support without being defamed in the process."
Governor Abbott's campaign released a statement in response to the news conference saying, "Our campaign is in no way involved in this lawsuit.. Beto O'Rourke continues hiding his support for the Green New Deal, which would kill hundreds of thousands of good-paying energy jobs..."
READ LAWSUIT
