Former Democratic Congressman Robert "Beto" O'Rourke was recently accused by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of illegally raising funds through his nonprofit organization to illicitly provide financial support to the Texas Democrats who fled the state to break legislative quorum and stall a vote on Republican redistricting plans.

On Friday, a Texas judge issued a temporary restraining order against O'Rourke and his organization to block the alleged "unlawful fundraising practices," and further barred them from "removing any property or funds" from the state, Fox News reported.

O'Rourke cried foul and fraudulently claimed that Paxton was trying to shut down his political advocacy group for partisan purposes, but Paxton smacked that lie down and reminded him that he "lost in court" because he was "breaking the law and deceiving Texans."

O'Rourke allegedly violating Texas laws with fundraising activities

After several Texas House Democrats fled the state to break quorum and prevent Republicans from moving forward with a congressional redistricting plan, O'Rourke and his nonprofit group, Powered by People, began raising funds to support the absent lawmakers, including by covering their "air travel, lodging, logistics, and daily fines," per Fox News.

Texas Attorney General Paxton asserted that what O'Rourke and his group were doing violated multiple state laws, including by misleading donors into believing that contributions were funding legitimate political activities instead of the personal expenses of the absconded Democratic legislators.

As such, Paxton filed a petition for a temporary restraining order to halt the alleged unlawful activities on Friday, and just hours later received exactly what he'd asked for.

Temporary restraining order issued, lien imposed

In a three-page order issued on Friday, Tarrant County District Judge Megan Fahey, a Republican appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2019, imposed the requested temporary restraining order against O'Rourke and Powered by People ahead of an August 19 hearing on a requested temporary injunction.

"Specifically, Defendants' fundraising conduct constitutes false, misleading, or deceptive acts under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act," Fahey wrote, "because Defendants are raising and utilizing political contributions from Texas consumers to pay for the personal expenses of Texas legislators, in violation of Texas law. Because this conduct is unlawful and harms Texas consumers, restraining this conduct is in the public interest."

"Furthermore, Defendants have and will continue to engage in unlawful fundraising practices and utilization of political funds in a manner that either directly violates or causes Texas Democratic Legislators to violate" multiple laws, she continued. "Consumers have and continue to suffer irreparable harm through these unlawful acts because they are making political contributions that are being used to fund personal expenses and violate State law."

In addition to barring O'Rourke and his group from raising or using political funds for "improper, unlawful, and non-political purposes," such as "funding out-of-state travel, hotel, or dining accommodations or services," as well as "funding payments of fines" for the "unexcused Texas legislators," the judge also prohibited the defendants from "Removing any property or funds from the State of Texas during the pendency of this lawsuit."

"Cry more, lib"

In reaction to the ruling, O'Rourke wrote in an X post, "They want to make examples out of those who fight so that others won't," and falsely claimed that Paxton was trying to "shut down" his organization's legitimate efforts at "voter registration" and fighting for "voting rights and free elections."

"Now Paxton’s filed a restraining order to try to take us out of the fight. He wants to silence me and stop me from leading this organization," he continued. "He wants to stop us from fighting Trump’s attempt to steal the five congressional seats he needs to hang on to power."

"But I’m not going anywhere. I plan on speaking at our rally to stop the power grab in Fort Worth tomorrow afternoon," O'Rourke added.

In response, however, Paxton wrote in reply, "Cry more, lib. You lost in court because you're breaking the law and deceiving Texans. We absolutely will make an example out of law breakers."