Justice Department to Investigate Muslim Development in Texas, Cornyn Says
The Justice Department has opened an investigation into a planned housing development outside of Dallas that would have a mosque at its center, Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said on Friday.
Mr. Cornyn, who will face Texas's hard-right attorney general, Ken Paxton, next year in what could be a heated Republican primary contest for his own Senate seat, is the latest Texas Republican to challenge the development in the rural town of Josephine, Texas.
The project is backed by members of the East Plano Islamic Center, a mosque in Plano, about 20 miles from Josephine, and has drawn intense scrutiny from Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott, who have accused the planners of seeking to create an exclusively Muslim community and to impose Islamic law on residents.
In recent months, Mr. Abbott has directed several state agencies to investigate the development, known as EPIC City, suggesting it may have violated fair housing and financial laws, and that the Islamic center had conducted illegal funerals in its mosque.
Mr. Paxton has also initiated a criminal investigation.
Now Mr. Cornyn has requested a federal investigation. Mr. Cornyn wants the Justice Department to investigate whether the Muslim developers engaged in religious discrimination. A spokesman for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
'Religious discrimination and Sharia Law have no home in Texas,' Mr. Cornyn wrote on social media on Friday. 'Any violations of federal law must be swiftly prosecuted.'
A lawyer for the East Plano Islamic Center, or EPIC, denied any wrongdoing by the mosque or those raising money for the development. Construction has not begun, and no permits to begin building have been issued.
'EPIC has done nothing illegal and we will cooperate fully with any and all investigations,' said the lawyer, Dan Cogdell, in a statement. 'Texans would be far better served by the good Senator solving real problems and instead of twisting himself into a pretzel over imaginary ones.'
Mr. Paxton has made clear he will try to unseat Mr. Cornyn by courting hard- right voters. Mr. Cornyn has responded by underscoring his conservative credentials and aligning himself with President Trump.
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