FBI to assist in tracking Texas Democrats over redistricting dispute
The FBI has not deployed any resources yet, a source familiar with internal discussions said. A Justice Department official, granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations, said the FBI had committed to provide help if asked by Texas law enforcement. Such a request had not yet been made as of Thursday afternoon, the official added.
Legal experts expressed skepticism that the FBI has any legitimate authority to step in. A spokesperson for Cornyn referred questions to the FBI, which declined to comment.
The Democratic lawmakers, who have mostly been open about their whereabouts, have not been charged with any crimes. Earlier this week, the Republican speaker of the Texas House of Representatives issued civil warrants for the absent lawmakers - most of whom have gone to Democratic-led states including Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, in part to escape Texas jurisdiction - to be brought back to Austin.
But the warrants apply only within the state and are based on House rules, not criminal law.
'Director Kash Patel has approved my request for the FBI to assist state and local law enforcement in locating runaway Texas House Democrats,' Cornyn said in a statement, referring to the FBI director.
JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois, has brushed off the idea that the FBI could be deployed to round up legislators in his state, calling it 'grandstanding' and warning that state troopers 'protect everybody in Illinois.'
Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan Law School professor and former U.S. attorney, said talk of involving the FBI appeared to be saber-rattling.
'Although federal agents do have authority to assist local law enforcement officials in tracking down fugitives, that requires a filed criminal charge,' she said.
More than 50 Democrats from the Texas legislature left the state ahead of Monday's legislative session, denying Republicans a quorum necessary to vote on the redistricting plan that has been championed by President Donald Trump.
The rare mid-decade redistricting is intended to flip five Democratic seats in next year's midterm elections, when Republicans will defend their razor-thin majority in the U.S. House.
The Texas fight has spread to other states, with the balance of power in Washington at stake. Democratic governors in states including California, Illinois and New York have threatened to redraw their own congressional maps to counteract Texas.
FLORIDA, INDIANA EFFORTS
The Republican speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Daniel Perez, announced on Thursday he would create a select committee for congressional redistricting, according to local media reports.
Vice President JD Vance visited Indiana on Thursday, where he was expected to discuss redistricting with Republican leaders, a White House official said. Other Republican states that could target Democrats include Missouri, Ohio and New Hampshire.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has suggested that Democrats who raise money to help pay for fines levied due to their absence could be violating state bribery laws that prohibit officials from accepting money in exchange for avoiding their duties.
In a letter to Patel on Tuesday urging the FBI to assist the state's local law enforcement in tracking the absent Democrats down, Cornyn wrote that he feared 'legislators who solicited or accepted funds to aid in their efforts to avoid their legislative duties may be guilty of bribery or other public corruption offenses.'
The FBI has tools to help state law enforcement when parties cross state lines to flee 'a scene of a crime,' Cornyn wrote. One of the Texas Democrats who left the state, Armando Valle, told reporters on Thursday during a briefing organized by advocacy group Sabotaging Our Safety that the FBI has 'no authority' to act.
David Froomkin, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center, said Abbott's threat was an 'egregious violation of the separation of powers' and called the bribery theory 'laughably weak.' He noted that the Texas Supreme Court has previously ruled that legislators are legally permitted to break quorum.
'If there's no legal duty, then there's no criminal bribery,' he said. - Reuters
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