Democrats investigate FBI effort to "hunt down" Texas legislators
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Reps. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., Jamie Raskin, D-Md., ranking member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, and Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
House Democrats are probing the FBI's efforts to help locate a group of Democratic state legislators from Texas who fled the state in a bid to stop Republicans from redrawing Texas' congressional maps.
Why it matters: The lawmakers are arguing that the operation is a partisan misuse of federal resources for combatting serious crimes, including terrorism and drug trafficking.
- The investigation is being led by House Oversight Committee ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), and Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas).
- In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, they expressed "great concern" about the "abuse of federal public safety resources for completely political purposes and without a law enforcement rationale."
What they're saying: In the letter, the four Democrats noted that breaking quorum has "occurred periodically" in Texas history, most recently in 2003 and 2021.
- They also pointed to a similar effort by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) to enlist the feds' help in tracking down Democratic legislators in 2003 that resulted in a bevy of judicial and ethical backlash.
- Lastly, they noted that Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who spearheaded the effort to get involved in the effort, is facing a tough primary challenge to his right from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Zoom in: In addition to asking Bondi and Patel to confirm the FBI or DOJ have agreed to assist in the search, the lawmakers asked for an accounting of the personnel and resources used.
- They also asked for any communications between the DOJ and Texas officials and a range of internal DOJ communications about the effort.
- And they asked for the legal justification the FBI is relying on to undertake the search and information on whether the agency believes the state legislators committed any crimes.
The other side: "When Democrat state legislators abandon their post, bring state business to a halt, violate the state constitution and let Beto's PAC and other dark money sources to pay for it, yes we should have law enforcement resources investigate," Cornyn said in a post on X responding to the letter.
- In a follow-up post, Cornyn pointed to federal statute that makes it illegal to cross state lines to carry out unlawful activities.
- The DOJ and FBI did not respond to requests for comment.
The bottom line: Bondi and Patel are highly unlikely to comply with the Democrats' requests for information, and the lawmakers lack subpoena power to compel their testimony or the production of documents.
- The letter is likely to add to the already massive slate of investigations Democrats are planning if they retake the House in 2026.
