Democrats slam Texas senator Cornyn over alleged FBI role in locating fleeing lawmakers

Source: The Guardian

Thu 7 Aug 2025 13.27 EDT
First published on Thu 7 Aug 2025 10.43 EDT


Democrats harshly criticized Donald Trump and fellow Republicans on Thursday after a US senator said the FBI had agreed to assist in returning Texas Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to stop a Republican effort to redistrict. US senator John Cornyn’s claim that the FBI will assist Republicans’ effort could not be independently confirmed. The FBI declined to comment.

An administration official told NBC News this week the government did not plan on using federal agents to arrest Texas lawmakers and a federal law enforcement official told the outlet that as of Thursday morning, the agency had not assisted with trying to locate the lawmakers. The Texas lawmakers who fled the state earlier this week to block Republicans’ effort to add five more seats to the state maps are currently staying at a hotel in suburban Chicago.

Speaking to reporters at the Illinois state fair on Thursday, Democratic governor JB Pritzker said he welcomed the FBI to the state. “I hope they take in the state fair, I hope they go see the beauty of Lake Michigan. But they won’t be arresting anyone because there is no US federal law that prohibits those Texas House Democrats from being here in the state,” he told reporters.

Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the US House, called it an effort to intimidate Democrats. “Shouldn’t the FBI be tracking down terrorists, drug traffickers and child predators? The Trump administration continues to weaponize law enforcement to target political adversaries. These extremists don’t give a damn about public safety. We will not be intimidated,” he said in a post on X.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/07/jd-vance-indiana-redistricting-midterms

Link to tweet