CHICAGO (WLS) — U.S. Senator John Cornyn announced that FBI Director Kash Patel has given the green light for the FBI to help Texas law enforcement track down Texas House Democrats who have traveled to Illinois.
The state legislators left Texas to prevent a quorum and halt the process for redistricting congressional districts.
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“I am pleased to share that Director Kash Patel has agreed to my request for the FBI’s assistance to locate the Texas House Democrats who have fled,” stated Sen. Cornyn. “I appreciate President Trump and Director Patel for responding promptly to my appeal for federal intervention to ensure these legislators fulfill their state duties. Such actions should not be permitted to evade their legal responsibilities.”
Over 50 Texas House Democrats have relocated to Illinois, and recently, a bomb threat was reported at their hotel in St. Charles.
The Democrats left Texas to disrupt the legislative process by denying the quorum needed for a vote. In response, the Texas governor seeks to vacate the position of the Democratic caucus leader, a move contested by Democrats who argue the governor does not possess such authority.
They are concerned about the effort to bring in the FBI, which they call a shameful push by Republicans.
“To now involve the FBI to pursue Texas Democratic officials for exercising our constitutional right to break quorum is deplorable,” expressed state Representative John Bucy from Austin.
Bucy got served with a civil warrant by the Texas House Republican leadership during a quorum break in 2021. A similar one has been issued this time.
This enforcement is limited within Texas, yet Republicans are attempting to extend such measures to Illinois and other states to force the Democrats’ return.
“This threat of trying to haul members in through the power of the federal government, the Trump administration, is not like anything that’s ever been suggested or happened before. And so I think that’s why people need to be anxious and nervous at this time,” said state Rep. Ann Johnson, a Democrat from Houston.
Abbott is also calling for absent Democrats to be arrested and returned to Texas.
“It’s not at all clear that they have the authority to do something like that when we’re talking about a civil warrant, really akin to a contempt violation from a different state,” ABC7 Chicago chief legal analyst Gil Soffer said.
That may explain why in Cornyn’s letter he specifically noted, “I am concerned that 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.”
“That would make it easier for the FBI to get involved,” Soffer said.
Gov. JB Pritzker dismissed all the FBI talk as grandstanding.
“The reality is that all that he has said, Cornyn, is that the FBI has been authorized to locate the Texas House Democrats, nothing more,” Pritzker said.
So, for now, Texas Democrats can only wait and see what happens next. Any FBI involvement in criminal warrants would likely have to go through the courts.
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