Ranking Members Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia, and Reps. Greg Casar and Jasmine Crockett, Investigate Potential Misuse of Federal Law Enforcement Resources to Hunt Down Democratic Lawmakers

Washington, D.C. (August 8, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judiciary, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Greg Casar, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Vice Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, demanded answers from U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Director Kash Patel regarding the reported use of federal law enforcement resources for purely political purposes. The lawmakers sent a letter to Bondi and Patel following reports that the FBI had agreed to assist Texas Republicans in finding Texas state legislators who left the state to block Republican efforts to gerrymander the state’s Congressional districts ahead of next year’s mid-term elections. The Members pressed the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI to clarify whether they are involved in these efforts. If they are, the Members demanded DOJ and FBI provide the legal basis and justification for these actions, as well as details about any use of federal taxpayer-funded resources, tools, and systems in this matter.

“We write with great concern about the abuse of federal public safety resources for completely political purposes and without a law enforcement rationale that is reportedly taking place right now.  We demand information about the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) involvement in efforts to locate or apprehend members of the Texas House of Representatives who are not accused of any federal crime but have chosen to break quorum during the current legislative session,” wrote the Members.  “Senator John Cornyn has claimed that the FBI is assisting the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) in identifying or locating Democratic state lawmakers who left the state to counter President Trump’s aggressive moves to consolidate power by redrawing Congressional district lines in Texas to prevent being investigated by a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.  These reports suggest that the FBI is diverting federal law enforcement away from fighting terrorism, drug trafficking, and other federal crimes to instead harass and target Texans’ duly elected representatives, and thus raise urgent questions about the legal basis, scale, and appropriateness of federal law enforcement involvement in a state-level political matter.” 

In addition to the potential misuse of the American public’s taxpayer dollars to go after political opponents, the Members highlight that breaking quorum as a form of political protest has been done by both parties in Texas, including the 1870 “Rump Senate incident,” the 1979 “Killer Bees” quorum break, and the more recent 2003 and 2021 quorum breaks over redistricting. 

In the 2003 case, in a move deemed unethical by the House Ethics Committee and illegal by a Texas state district judge, then-U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s staff assisted the Texas DPS in tracking down quorum-breaking state Democratic lawmakers by requesting that the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Homeland Security track a plane carrying one of the absent lawmakers. 

“On July 31, 2025, U.S. Senator John Cornyn, trailing far behind in a Republican Senate primary, chose to ignore this precedent and publicly called for the FBI to assist Texas authorities in tracking down Democratic state lawmakers who had left the state in order to prevent a quorum in the Texas House of Representatives. He urged federal law enforcement to investigate and potentially detain the legislators despite the fact that ‘there is no apparent legal breach under [the FBI’s] purview.’ The request has been criticized by legal experts and civil rights advocates, who raised concerns about criminalizing political protest and the potential misuse of federal resources in a partisan dispute. Following Cornyn’s request, public reports indicate that the FBI agreed to provide assistance to Texas authorities, including Texas DPS, in locating the lawmakers. The specific legal basis and scope of the FBI’s involvement remain unclear,” concluded the Members. 

Click here to read the letter to U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.