O’Rourke sued over winter storm remarks

The chairman of the board of directors of one of the nation’s biggest pipeline companies, who is also a major donor to Gov. Greg Abbott, is suing Democrat Beto O’Rourke on accusations of defamation, slander and libel for criticizing his company’s actions in the 2021 Texas winter storm and referring to his subsequent $1 million donation to Abbott as “pretty close to a bribe.”

Kelcy Warren, chairman of the board at the gas pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners, filed suit against O’Rourke in San Saba County seeking more than $1 million in damages. The lawsuit alleges that O’Rourke is trying to “publicly humiliate Warren and discourage others from contributing to Gov. Abbott’s campaign.”

O’Rourke on Monday responded with a press conference just 5 miles from Energy Transfer Partners’ headquarters in Dallas calling the lawsuit “frivolous” and aimed at trying to stop him from telling the truth about what happened before and after the deadly storm on Abbott’s watch.

“He is trying to stop me from fighting for the people of Texas,” O’Rourke said. “And just as we did before, we are not backing down right now.”

The legal battle comes just a week after Abbott and O’Rourke won their primary elections and are digging in for what is setting up to be the most competitive governor’s race in Texas in nearly 30 years.

In Abbott, Republicans have an incumbent who is undefeated in six consecutive statewide elections and is by far their best fundraiser. Meanwhile, O’Rourke brings name recognition and fundraising skills that Democrats have lacked at the top of the ticket, having raised a record $79 million in a narrow loss to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018.

For months, O’Rourke has been blasting Abbott for accepting a $1 million contribution from Warren after the Texas power grid failure during the storm. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Energy Transfer Partners made an additional $2.4 billion last year when the state’s grid manager pushed power prices sky-high to end rolling blackouts. The freeze killed more than 200 people by the state’s estimate and resulted in billions in property damages.

‘Close to a bribe’

O’Rourke said all he’s done is “connect the dots” for people so they see how Abbott received generous donations from companies that profited on the winter storms.

During a campaign stop in San Antonio last month, O’Rourke said energy companies have essentially paid off Abbott for not being more aggressive and holding them accountable.

“That’s pretty close to a bribe by any definition that I’m familiar with,” O’Rourke said in San Antonio, though he did not call out Warren by name.

Warren also took issue with O’Rourke retweeting a story from Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA in January detailing how another energy company, Luminant Corp., had filed a complaint against Energy Transfer Partners with the Texas Railroad Commission. Luminant claims that Energy Transfer Partners threatened to shut off Luminant’s gas supply unless it paid $22 million in fees connected to the 2021 storms.

O’Rourke retweeted the story, with a comment: “That’s extortion.”

In the court filing, Warren’s attorneys argue that O’Rourke’s heated rhetoric has been damaging to “Warren’s reputation and exposed him to public hatred, animus, contempt or ridicule, or financial injury.”

Warren’s attorneys include other O’Rourke statements in the lawsuit, along with videos of him recounting stories of Texans who died during the storm while giant companies made profits.

O’Rourke showed no signs of backpedaling on Monday, saying Warren made “illegal windfall profits off the suffering, misery and deaths of our fellow Texans.”

Energy Transfer Partners released a statement saying Warren is not trying to stop O’Rourke from talking about the winter storm.

“What Mr. Warren is interested in stopping are the irresponsible, defamatory and highly offensive statements by Mr. O’Rourke related to his donation to Gov. Abbott’s campaign,” the statement from the company states. “This is also the right of every Texan and every American to contribute to the campaigns of candidates they support without being defamed in the process. 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 Gov. Abbott.”

The grid failures are a key issue for O’Rourke as he tries to make the case that Abbott should be fired as the leader of state government. In campaign ads and speeches, O’Rourke has faulted Abbott for not acting sooner to protect the grid despite years of warnings. And he’s blasted Abbott for not doing enough to make sure last year’s crisis is not repeated.

In the past year, state leaders have vowed to fix the problems, enacting new laws and rules supposedly shoring up the system that delivers power to Texas homes and businesses. Yet energy experts say there is still plenty to do to adequately prepare the state for future weather disasters.

Abbott said the legislation he signed has better prepared the grid for extreme weather and allowed it to handle the cold snaps that hit Texas this year.

“The power grid is more resilient, more stable, and stronger than it has ever been in the history of our state,” Abbott said during a campaign stop in San Antonio last month.

Private citizen?

Abbott’s campaign said Monday that it had no role in Warren’s filing: “Our campaign is in no way involved in this lawsuit,” said Renae Eze, Abbott’s press secretary.

In his suit, Warren claims to be a private citizen, although he was a highly controversial public figure just a few years ago when Abbott appointed him to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. Environmental groups protested his appointment at a time Warren’s company was fighting to build the Dakota Access Pipeline that was the subject of months of protests in North and South Dakota from Native Americans in 2016.

Warren has become one of Abbott’s biggest donors. Since 2019, he’s given Abbott nearly $1.3 million for his re-election. He is one of Abbott’s top four donors since 2019, according to state campaign finance records. jeremy.wallace@chron.com