Texas Sen. John Cornyn on Thursday said the FBI has agreed to help track dozens of Texas Democrats who fled to Illinois and New York as they try to stop Texas Republicans from enacting new congressional maps that would give the GOP five more seats.
The request sets the stage for an escalation of a war between the Trump administration and Illinois Democrats, with Gov. JB Pritzker at the helm. But it’s unclear what role federal agents can play in the matter, and there were no reports of FBI activity in the area housing Texas Democrats as of Thursday morning. The FBI declined to comment on the matter.
The Democratic governor on Thursday called the FBI assist “grandstanding” and said federal agents won’t be arresting anyone in Illinois, “because there is no U.S. federal law that prohibits those Texas House Democrats from being here in the state of Illinois.”
Cornyn made the request Wednesday, claiming the legislators “are potentially in violation of the law.”
“Specifically, 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,” Cornyn said in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel.
It’s unclear what federal law the Texas Democrats may have violated by fleeing to Illinois. In his letter this week, Cornyn pointed to civil warrants issued by the Texas House of Representatives. He also seemed to reference violations of state criminal law. No criminal arrest warrants have been made public, but such documents could be filed under seal.
Either way, authorities would likely need to bring the Texas Democrats before a judge before hauling them back to their home state.
By Thursday, Cornyn said Patel had approved his request for FBI assistance.
Pritzker, who offered up Illinois as a safe haven for dozens of Texas Democrats, has repeatedly said the Democrats are not acting in violation of federal law and has vowed to protect them.
Speaking at an Illinois State Fair event in Springfield on Thursday morning, Pritzker said FBI agents don’t have the authority to arrest the Democrats on any federal law violations.
“This is a lot of grandstanding by the Trump administration, by John Cornyn, by Gov. [Greg] Abbott in Texas. 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. And you know why? Because there is no federal law that allows them to arrest Texas Democrats who are here visiting the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said.
“I welcome the FBI coming to the state,” Pritzker added. “I hope they take in the state fair. I hope they go see the the beauty of Lake Michigan. Yeah, adventure awaits for all of them, but they won’t be arresting anyone, because there is no U.S. federal law that prohibits those Texas House Democrats from being here in the state of Illinois.”
Pritzker on Tuesday said “there’s no way” the lawmakers can be arrested, via federal law or by a civil arrest warrant issued in Texas.
“These people have not broken any federal law, and frankly, in the state of Illinois we’re not going to let them get taken away,” Pritzker said at an Aurora news conference alongside the Democrats on Tuesday. “We’re going to protect those Texas House Democrats. The only thing that’s happened is a civil warrant was issued by the Republican speaker of the House in Texas in order to take away the Democrats. And a civil warrant isn’t worth anything in the state of Illinois. So as long as they’re in Illinois, they’re safe.”
A bomb threat was reported Wednesday at the St. Charles hotel housing the Texas Democrats, but police searched the area and found the claim to be unfounded.
“This morning, a threat was made against the safety of the members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus. We are safe, we are secure, and we are undeterred and unintimidated,” Texas Democrats said in a statement.
Pritzker said he was aware of the threat in a post on X.
“Threats of violence will be investigated and those responsible will be held accountable,” he wrote.
Contributing: Jon Seidel, Alex Degman, Violet Miller