Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is asking for the FBI’s help in tracking down and arresting the dozens of state Democratic lawmakers who fled the state over the weekend and remain away.
In a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday, the Texas Republican asked for the FBI’s assistance, saying, “federal resources are necessary to locate the out-of-state Texas legislators who are potentially acting in violation of the law.”
Additionally, Cornyn encouraged the FBI “to take any appropriate steps to aid in Texas state law enforcement efforts to locate or arrest potential lawbreakers who have fled the state.” Cornyn referenced the FBI’s “tools” to aid state law enforcement “when parties cross state lines, including to avoid testifying or fleeing a scene of a crime.”
On Thursday, Cornyn said that Patel agreed to some form of assistance. “I am proud to announce that 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.
“I thank President Trump and Director Patel for supporting and swiftly acting on my call for the federal government to hold these supposed lawmakers accountable for fleeing Texas. We cannot allow these rogue legislators to avoid their constitutional responsibilities,” he added.
Scores of Texas state Democrats are said to be holed up in Chicago. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, countered in a podcast, however, that FBI agents wouldn’t be “welcome” there and suggested that Illinois law enforcement could block them from arresting or detaining any Texas Dems.
