Of course, Texas Democratic lawmakers are not committing a federal crime by leaving the state to deny Republicans a quorum, which effectively blocks the GOP's attempt to rig the state's congressional districts to give Republicans an additional five seats at Dear Leader Donald Trump's behest.
"The key question here is on what grounds would the FBI be doing this. What is the crime they are investigating? The FBI can’t just use its vast surveillance powers to locate random citizens. In fact, that’s what conservatives have long been so concerned about re [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] authorities," MSNBC justice correspondent Ken Dilanian wrote in a post on X.
Indeed, Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker—who has vowed to protect the Democratic lawmakers who fled to his state—said the same at a Wednesday news conference.
“There literally is no federal law applicable to this situation, none they can say that they’re sending F.B.I.," Pritzker said, adding that Republicans are "grandstanding."
Yet that hasn't stopped Cornyn and other Republicans from trying to threaten the Democratic lawmakers with everything from arrest to expulsion from office.
Cornyn clearly has ulterior motives here. He is facing an existential threat to his political future in next year's U.S. Senate primary, with polls showing him currently in a close battle with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Paxton is running against Cornyn by saying he is not sufficiently conservative or loyal to Trump, with Paxton stalking Trump to try and get a failed endorsement. So Cornyn getting the FBI involved to try to get Trump the outcome he wants out of Texas' congressional maps is likely his way of trying to beat back those allegations. That makes Cornyn’s request to sic the FBI on Democratic lawmakers even more abhorrent, as he is weaponizing federal law enforcement for his own political gain.
Democrats lambasted the weaponization of the FBI.
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