A San Saba County resident has filed a lawsuit against Texas politician Beto O'Rourke claiming defamation of character, slander, and libel.
The lawsuit was filed February 22nd by Kelcy Warren against Beto O'Rourke, a former U.S. Representative who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2018 and president in 2020, and has announced he will run for governor in 2022.
The action was filed in San Saba County District Court. Warren is seeking monetary relief of >$1 million. Warren has demanded a jury trial on all issues.
Warren, who co-founded Energy Transfer LP, and who is its former CEO, currently serves as Executive Chairman, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that O'Rourke has made relentless and malicious attacks against Warren, accusing him of serious crimes including extortion, bribery, and corruption because Warren made a campaign contribution to Texas Governor Greg Abbot in June of 2021.
O'Rourke allegedly repeated statements within the past few months that Warren "broke the law" and committed felonies of extortion, bribery, and corruption.
The petition states that on February 14th, Warren demanded a retraction and that O'Rourke cease and desist from making defamatory statements about Warren.
In the petition, it further states that O'Rourke responded to that demand by maliciously releasing a campaign ad in which he reiterated the defamatory accusations.
Warren claims that O'Rourke's deliberate false statements accusing him of serious crimes are baseless and malicious lies which sought to publicly humiliate Warren. The petition states that O'Rourke should be held liable for his lies and forced to pay for the damage he has caused.
According to the lawsuit, among the accusations O'Rourke has made is that he blames the governor for the power plant failures that occurred during the huge winter storm in 2021 because the governor decided not to protect Texas's energy grid, accusing Warren of paying Governor Abbott not to do so.