Controversy over plans to redefine electoral borders in Texas, U.S., escalated again after a senator said the FBI agreed to help find Democrats who fled the state.
The FBI will not confirm whether they agree to help, and Senator John Cornyn, a Republican of Texas, did not specify what kind of aid the FBI will provide.
It was the second day after some Democrats were forced to evacuate their hotel in Illinois as they protested Republicans’ efforts to change the map of the Congressional District
Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said the FBI “may” have to be involved.
Sen Cornyn said in a statement that FBI Director Kash Patel “approved my request to assist state and local law enforcement by locating the Texas Democrats out of control.”
On Tuesday, Sen Cornyn wrote to the FBI for his involvement, saying he was “concerned that lawmakers soliciting or receiving funds helped to work to avoid possible bribery or other public corruption crimes,” he said.
It is unclear whether federal officials have been involved in the search for more than 50 state lawmakers leaving Texas. Many of these locations are well known. They held a press conference Tuesday at a Chicago-area hotel, condemning the picky attempt.
The escalation comes a day after the bomb threat was summoned to a hotel where some Democrats stayed.
“This morning, a threat to the safety of members of the Texas Democratic Caucus,” the Texas House Democrat wrote on Twitter. “We are safe, we are safe, and we are not deceived. We thank Prizker, local and state law enforcement for their swift action to ensure we are safe.”
On Tuesday, Trump was asked whether the FBI should be involved and answered “they may have to”, adding: “It looks almost like it’s [Democrats have] Give up the country.”
“I know they want them back. Not only the attorney general, the governor wants them back,” Trump said. “So a lot of people ask them back. You can’t just sit down. You have to go back. You have to fight. That’s all the election.”
The move to escape the state is part of a strategy to re-dividate it in the Texas House. The proposal made by Republicans will create five more Republican-oriented seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, which has a slim majority.
At least two-thirds of the state legislature in Texas, a 150-member state, must be voted. The quorum number is not possible without being in the country.
Texas Democrats say the state’s governor and Republicans are trying to silence them.
Gene Wu, chairman of the Democratic caucus in Texas, accused Greg Abbott of seeking to “silence my objections by removing formally elected officials from their posts” and argued that “my constitutional obligation is not a willing participant.”
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