Beto O'Rourke asks appeals court to toss Greg Abbott megadonor Kelcy Warren's libel lawsuit

Sorry folks, this article got buried under the Friday news dump...


The legal fight pitting Texas billionaire Kelcy Warren against Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic candidate for governor, has moved into a state appeals court, where O'Rourke is seeking to dismiss Warren's defamation lawsuit or, at the very least, remove the case from the energy executive's county of choice.

Warren, a political ally of O'Rourke's Republican opponent, Gov. Greg Abbott, sued the Democrat in February, alleging that he was defamed, libeled and slandered when his name got dragged into the political fight.

O'Rourke claims Abbott — beholden to large corporate donors, including a $1 million contribution from Warren — went soft on efforts to protect the Texas power grid that failed with fatal results during the February 2021 freeze. Abbott rejects the claim, arguing that power plants have been upgraded and the grid is "good to go."

In his lawsuit filed in San Saba County, about 100 miles northwest of Austin, Warren accused O'Rourke of making baseless claims that Abbott sought to benefit Warren's company, Energy Transfer.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2022/08/19/beto-orourke-asks-court-to-toss-lawsuit-by-texas-governor-greg-abbott-backer-kelcy-warren/65409812007/