Kelcy Warren is the chairman of Energy Transfer, a major, Texas energy company that made almost $7 billion last year. But, in addition to being a successful energy executive, Warren is also a major GOP donor; in fact, he contributed $1 million to Governor Abbott’s campaign, according to the AP.
Well, “Beto” (Robert) O’Rourke, the leftist Texas gubernatorial candidate, decided to call that donation corruption and said that Abbott had been “bought off” by the energy executive because the donation came after Energy Transfer made billions during the near-collapse of the Texas power grid in 2021. As the AP reports:
“O’Rourke has tweeted that energy executives “bought off” Abbott and at times has singled out Warren, saying during one campaign stop that the contribution ‘looks like a bribe to me.”’
Here’s the tweet. In it, O’Rourke says that:
Gas supply companies made $11B when the grid failed.
Abbott put their profits over our lives.
Why? Because they bought him off.
Looks like they’re trying to do it again.
We’ve got to make a change in Texas.
Gas supply companies made $11B when the grid failed.
Abbott put their profits over our lives.
Why? Because they bought him off.
Looks like they’re trying to do it again.
We’ve got to make a change in Texas. https://t.co/SoQvlec3bc
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) January 20, 2022
Warren wasn’t happy that Beto intimated that his donation was a corrupt bargain of some sort, so he filed a lawsuit over the matter, alleging that Beto’s tweet and campaign trail comment constituted “baseless and malicious lies.” As Kera News reports about the lawsuit:
The lawsuit says O’Rourke has seized on that donation to falsely accuse Warren of “serious crimes including extortion, bribery, and corrupt influence.” The lawsuit points to a number of social media posts O’Rourke has made alleging that Abbott has not fixed the grid due to the influence that Warren and others in the oil and gas industry have over the governor.
The lawsuit calls such claims “baseless and malicious lies,” and it suggests Warren gave Abbott $1 million because he was concerned about one of his primary challengers, Don Huffines, a wealthy businessman and former state senator from Dallas.
The lawsuit added that “O’Rourke intended that his malicious and baseless defamatory statements publicly humiliate Warren and discourage others from contributing to Governor Abbott’s campaign.”
Similarly, the spokesperson for Energy Transfer, Vicki Granado, said:
“Mr. O’Rourke’s statements are flat-out false, and they appear to have been made for political gain in a desperate attempt to overcome what appears to be a weakening campaign to unseat Governor Abbott.”
Beto, for his part, has denied that the lawsuit has any merit. He, speaking on the issue, called the lawsuit “frivolous” and claimed that Warren is trying to “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.”
“We are not backing down,” he added.
While Warren’s suit probably isn’t as baseless as Beto claims, it will likely be a hard one for him to win. For a public figure to win a libel suit, he must prove “actual malice,” which is almost impossible to prove. So, Beto will likely be able to get away with his unsubstantiated claims of corruption, though the lawsuit might still slow down his campaign.
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Parler and Gettr.
This story syndicated with permission from Will, Author at Trending Politics