Senator: FBI Has Granted Request on 'Runaway' Dems

Republican Sen. John Cornyn says the FBI has granted his request to locate and investigate Democratic Texas lawmakers who fled the state to block a redistricting plan that would give the GOP more US House seats. The lawmakers' whereabouts aren't a secret—they regularly give press conferences from various locations, including the hotel in Illinois where many of them are staying—and it's not clear what actions federal agents would take, the New York Times reports.

• "I am proud to announce that [FBI] Director Kash Patel has approved my request for the FBI to assist state and local law enforcement in locating runaway Texas House Democrats," Cornyn, the senior senator from Texas, 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." He asked the FBI for assistance on Tuesday, saying the lawmakers might have violated corruption laws by soliciting and accepting donations "to aid in their efforts to avoid their legislative duties."

The Texas House has issued arrest warrants for the lawmakers, but state police don't have the power to retrieve them from other states, the Texas Tribune reports. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has vowed to protect the Texas Democrats in his state. On Wednesday, he accused Cornyn of "grandstanding" by trying to involve federal agents, the Times reports. "There literally is no federal law applicable to this situation—none," the Democratic governor said on a Wednesday News Not Noise podcast, per Mediaite. That morning, the hotel in Illinois where some of the Texas lawmakers are staying was evacuated after a bomb threat.