FBI helping track down absent Texas Democratic reps

FBI agents were working alongside the Texas Department of Public Safety to locate and investigate roughly 60 absent state Democratic legislators, Gov. Greg Abbott said on Thursday. FBI Director Kash Patel assigned agents to the case on Wednesday, according to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Cornyn sent Patel a request for intervention on Tuesday. Agents from both the Austin and San Antonio FBI offices were tracking down the absent legislators, Cornyn said Thursday on The Mark Davis Show radio program.

The Texas House’s Republican members voted on Monday to issue civil arrest warrants for the absent legislators, but the warrants only apply within state lines. FBI help was needed to locate those outside the state, Cornyn said.

The Democratic House members left on Sunday, during a brief adjournment of the state House’s special legislative session, in order to block the passage of a mid-decade congressional redistricting plan. The Trump-backed plan could net Republicans five more U.S. House seats. Many Texas Democrats opposed the plan and called it racist. Democratic delegations flew to Chicago, Boston, and Albany, N.Y., to meet with supporters there. The session resumed on Monday afternoon, without enough legislators to pass the redistricting measure.

What does the FBI intend to do with legislators it locates? Agents will coordinate with Texas law enforcement to bring them back to the state, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Thursday. Texas law enforcement planned to find, arrest, and transport to the Texas Capitol building any absent legislators still inside state lines, Abbott said.

In what other ways are Texas authorities moving against the absent legislators? Abbott recently petitioned the Texas Supreme Court to remove one of the departed House members, Gene Wu. Wu, the head of the Texas House’s Democratic Caucus, abandoned his office and broke bribery laws by fundraising to cover House fines for his absence, the governor said in his petition. The court gave Wu until Friday to respond. Abbott said he would use similar measures against other absent legislators.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report on the situation for more information on the redistricting plan.