Beto O’Rourke Faces a Defamation Lawsuit From a Pipeline Billionaire
A Texas oil pipeline billionaire is suing Beto O’Rourke for defamation after the Democrat criticized his $1 million donation to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaign following last year’s deadly winter blackout.
O’Rourke, who won the Democratic nomination for governor last week, called the lawsuit frivolous during a news conference Monday. Court records show it was filed in February in rural West Texas.
The donor, Kelcy Warren, is the chairman of Energy Transfer. The oil pipeline company reported $6.7 billion in net income last year, including about $2.4 billion in earnings related to the catastrophic February 2021 winter storm in Texas that sent natural gas prices soaring. Four months later, Warren gave the Abbott campaign $1 million, his largest single political contribution in a decade of donations to Republican candidates in Texas, according to state campaign finance records.
