Sen. Cornyn Urges FBI Director to Help Bring Back Texas Democrats Who Left State
In a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday, Cornyn said he wants the bureau to 'take any appropriate steps to aid in Texas state law enforcement efforts to locate or arrest potential lawbreakers who have fled the state' before referring to the Democrats who left.
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New York Post
13 minutes ago
- New York Post
Texas Democrat Rep. Jolanda Jones apologizes for comparing redistricting to the Holocaust
Texas Democratic state Rep. Jolanda Jones apologized Tuesday for comparing Republican efforts to redraw the Lone Star State's congressional maps to the slaughter of more than 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust. Jones, 59, is one of more than 50 Texas House Democrats who fled the state capital in order to stall a special legislative session to consider the redistricting proposal – which could net Republicans as many as five additional seats in the US House of Representatives ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. 3 Jones is one of dozens of Texas Democrats who have boycotted a special legislative session over opposition to a GOP-led redistricting effort. Houston Chronicle via Getty Images Advertisement 'They don't accept us. They are showing us who they are, and we should believe them. And we better have the courage to stand up, otherwise we will fall for anything,' Jones said Tuesday during an appearance on 'The Don Lemon Show,' discussing the redistricting push. 'And in this country, we will be defeated, deported. I mean, we will lose all of our rights. And if you think it can't happen, it can,' the Houston-area representative continued, just before making the outlandish comparison. 'And I will liken this to the Holocaust,' Jones added. 'People are like, 'Well, how did the Holocaust happen? How was somebody in a position to kill all them people?' Well, good people remain silent, or good people didn't realize that what happens to them can very soon happen to me or somebody I love.' Advertisement Jones quickly retracted her comparison, apologized and claimed that she got 'emotional' her interview with the former CNN host. 'I made a statement on 'The Don Lemon Show' comparing Trump's attempt to disenfranchise Black and Brown people to the Holocaust. That was a mistake, and I apologize for it,' Jones said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 'Trump is coming for my community, and I get emotional about it and make strong statements. But that was going too far, and I retract that comparison,' she added. 3 Jones later retracted her comparison of the redistricting to the Holocaust, admitted she crossed a line. Getty Images Advertisement A spokesman for Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott criticized Jones' remarks on Lemon's show. 'Fleeing Texas House Democrats continue to beclown themselves through this desperate, anti-democratic stunt,' Andrew Mahaleris told Fox News Digital. 'Unlike these radicals, Governor Abbott refuses to abandon Texans.' 'If the House Democrats who deserted Texans were serious about delivering results, they would come back to the Texas Capitol and do the job voters elected them to do.' 3 The Texas governor has threatened Jones and the other missing Dems with arrest and removal from office over their absences. AP Advertisement Jones and the rest of the absentee Democrats – many of whom appear to be holed in Illinois and New York – have prevented the state House of Representatives from reaching the quorum necessary to continue with legislative business. State House lawmakers on Monday passed a motion to issue arrest warrants for the missing lawmakers. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Tuesday asked the FBI for help tracking down the Democrats who crossed state lines to avoid a vote on redistricting. Meanwhile, Abbott has moved to remove the Democrats from office and has directed state law enforcement to arrest them and investigate potential legal violations related to their refusal to participate in the special session. Jones did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment.
New York Post
13 minutes ago
- New York Post
Miss United States Lindsey Langston accuses Rep. Cory Mills of threatening to publish her nude pics, sex videos
WASHINGTON — The reigning Miss United States is accusing Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) of threatening to make public sex videos and nude pictures of her — and 'harm any men' she went out with in the future — after she ended their relationship earlier this year upon finding out he was seeing another woman. Lindsey Langston, who was crowned in October, reported the shocking sextortion attempt by Mills, 45, to the Columbia (Fla.) County Sheriff's Office July 14, according to a document obtained by The Post. 'Since February 20th of 2025, Cory has contacted Lindsey numerous times on numerous different accounts threatening to release nude images and videos of her, to include recorded videos of her and Cory engaging in sexual acts,' the report stated. 4 Miss United States pageant winner Lindsey Langston alleged the shocking sextortion attempt by Mills, 45, to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office in Florida on July 14. Lindsey Langston / X 'The threats were made when Cory believed Lindsey to have other romantic partners in her life after the breakup.' Langston, 25, provided screenshots of text and Instagram messages from Mills that were later entered into evidence and 'forwarded to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for further review,' according to a spokesman for the sheriff's office. Anthony Sabatini, an attorney who represented Langston briefly and challenged Mills in a 2022 GOP primary, published at least three of the purported messages on X Wednesday, saying they were 'a criminal violation of Florida's sexual extortion statute 836.05—a 2nd degree felony.' 4 'The threats were made when Cory believed Lindsey to have other romantic partners in her life after the breakup,' the police report stated. Columbia County SO 'I can send him a few videos of you as well,' Mills allegedly taunted his ex in one exchange. 'Oh, I still have them.' Mills and Langston, a GOP state committeewoman, had been dating since November 2021 and sharing a house in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., since May 2024 after the congressman claimed he finalized his divorce from estranged wife Rana Al Saadi. But in February 2025, Sarah Raviani, an Iranian-American Republican activist, revealed her 'significant other for over a year' had 'grabbed her, shoved her, and pushed her out of the door' at the same location as Mills' Washington, DC, penthouse apartment, according to a police incident report reviewed by NBC Washington. Raviani — who was left with 'bruises on her arm which appeared fresh,' according to the report filed with the Metropolitan Police Department — declined to press charges and later issued a statement calling the incident 'a personal matter' and added that she was 'severely jet-lagged,' 'had been drinking' and the bruising was 'the result of medical conditions like eczema and activities from my recent trip to Dubai.' 'While the personal matter in question was emotionally charged, there was no physical altercation,' Raviani said. The incident report seen by NBC showed Raviani allowed cops to listen to a recorded phone call in which Mills 'instruct[ed] her to lie about the origin of her bruises' and that he had himself 'admitted [to officers] that the situation escalated from verbal to physical.' 4 Mills and Langston, a GOP state committeewoman, had been dating since November 2021 and sharing a house in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., since May 2024 after the congressman claimed he finalized divorce from his estranged wife. Getty Images Langston confronted Mills after seeing news reports about the dispute with Raviani, but the congressman stressed he 'was not in a romantic relationship' with another woman and argued that 'the press fabricated the story,' according to the sheriff's office report filed last month. 'Lindsey then found a social media account for the other woman and saw photos of her with Cory,' the latest police report noted. Raviani still has a picture of her and Mills posing together from mid-March posted on her Instagram account. Mills was dinged by his landlord last month at the luxury Washington, DC, apartment where the alleged February assault occurred for evading $85,000 in rent — but claimed it was the result of a faulty web payment portal. 4 The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which didn't immediately respond to requests for further records of the incident, is now taking over the investigation into Mills' threatening texts to Langston. Lindsey Langston / X The pad, which enjoys a scenic view of the Potomac River and sits just a short walk from the National Mall, has a hefty $20,833 per month price tag, The Post was unable to locate any divorce filings for Mills or Al Saadi, who cofounded a weapons company in the 2010s that is still based in northern Virginia. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement didn't immediately respond to requests for further records of the incident or investigation. Reps for Mills' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Five things to know about possible FBI involvement in Texas redistricting battle
Several Republicans are opening the door to getting the FBI involved in forcing Texas Democrats to return to the state amid a protest over an even friendlier congressional map the GOP wants to pass. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel this week, urging the agency to help Republicans bring back Democrats to the Lone Star State. President Trump left open the possibility on Tuesday, saying 'they may have to.' The statements from Trump and Cornyn mark a remarkable escalation in an already heated redistricting battle that started in Texas and has since fanned out across the country. But the comments invoking the FBI's assistance are raising questions around whether that's even possible. Here are five things to know about possible FBI involvement in the Texas redistricting battle: Why are Republicans calling for FBI involvement? Some Republicans are calling for the FBI's involvement after Texas Democrats left the state beginning on Sunday to block Republicans from passing a new map that would offer the Texas GOP five additional pickup opportunities in the House. Democrats broke quorum, meaning the minimum number of lawmakers needed to conduct legislative business, in an effort to stall passage of the maps in the state's lower chamber. They left for states including New York and Illinois, which Republicans point out were also gerrymandered by Democrats. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) have called for the lawmakers that fled to be arrested, and Abbott has already started the process of trying to remove at least one Democrat from office. But Democrats can technically stay out of the state as long as they want, which is why some Republicans have floated the use of federal law enforcement to compel them to return to Texas. What has the FBI said so far? So far, the FBI is staying mum on the issue. The FBI declined to comment when contacted by The Hill regarding the push to get them involved in bringing back Democrats to Texas. Attorney General Pam Bondi has also not said anything publicly about the issue. One looming question is how much pressure Trump puts on the Justice Department and FBI to act as the standoff continues. Does the FBI have the power to bring Democrats back to Texas? Some experts that spoke to The Hill appeared skeptical that the FBI could intervene in the matter, noting that the agency is concerned with violations of federal law while the Texas standoff is primarily an issue concerning individual states. 'I don't see why the FBI would be involved in this at all. I mean this is Texas politics and the FBI has no business trying to enforce Texas state law,' said Richard Painter, who served as associate counsel to the president in the White House Counsel's office during former President George W. Bush's second term. 'The only federal law that I think is being violated in Texas and in Illinois and several other states is voting rights,' said Painter, who's now a law professor at the University of Minnesota. 'I think gerrymandering violates voting rights, but the U.S. Supreme Court's not willing to do anything about it.' Painter's comments allude to a Supreme Court ruling in 2019 that gerrymandering is a political matter, not a legal one, and thus doesn't fall under the purview of federal courts. He said that if he were detained by the FBI in that situation and they said he needed to return to the Lone Star State, 'I'd be filing for a writ of habeas corpus tomorrow, and I think I'd win.' Another expert poured cold water over the idea as well. 'There's no offense against the United States. There is no reasonable basis that arresting Texas legislators will prevent the commission of a federal crime,' wrote Anthony Michael Kreis, an associate professor at Georgia State University College of Law, in a post on X, linking to an article by The New York Times regarding Cornyn's call to get the FBI involved. 'This is simply @JohnCornyn asking for the unconstitutional, lawless, and arbitrary federal power,' he added. Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor and professor at the University of Michigan Law School, said she wasn't sure, when asked about whether the FBI can compel Democrats to return to the state and if Trump can require officials to do this. 'Seems like an inappropriate use of federal law enforcement powers to address a political issue, and I don't see what the federal offense would be,' she told The Hill in an email. How are Democrats responding? Democrats have heavily criticized Republicans' efforts to push the FBI to get involved in detaining Texas lawmakers. 'Impeached Ken Paxton and twice impeached Donald Trump are threatening to send the FBI after Texas House Democrats. It's an illegal, authoritarian move that will not stand,' tweeted Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), one of the original lawmakers that fled the state in 2003 to deny Texas Republicans during mid-decade redistricting. Speaking to late night host Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said 'they've not broken any federal law,' when asked about whether the FBI could get involved. 'And frankly, in the state of Illinois, we're not going to let them get taken away. We're going to protect those Texas House Democrats.' Meanwhile, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) wrote on X that doing so would be 'indefensible.' 2024 Election Coverage What other means is the GOP using to pressure Democrats? Republicans aren't facing many good options in terms of forcing Democrats to come back to the state. Abbott on Wednesday filed a lawsuit seeking to remove Democratic leader Gene Wu from his seat in the Texas state House. And Paxton has also called for the ouster of the Democrats who fled. But so far the GOP's options appear limited. There's no question that Democrats will come back eventually — they will have to at some point after being away from their families and constituents for so long, and also must address other hot-button issues in the state like flood relief. The real question is how long Democrats will stay away, which will be determined by lawmakers' stamina and resources.
