A GOP lawmaker endorsed by President Donald Trump was caught unaware by a Justice Department investigation.
Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL), who represents Florida's 7th Congressional District and faces an Aug. 18 Republican primary, learned of the probe when MS NOW contacted him for comment Tuesday.
Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed the Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into Mills, though neither disclosed its focus.
"I know nothing about it," Mills said by text.
In a follow-up phone call, he reiterated the point — "this is the first I'm hearing about it" — before guessing the probe likely came from "all the things stemming from the Ethics investigation."
A third source told MS NOW that the FBI contacted at least one person last year about Mills' finances, allegations of misconduct, and individuals close to him. The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment.
The investigation could have an immediate consequence for the separate House Ethics Committee probe into Mills, congressional reporter Matt Fuller noted on X. "Usually, the Ethics Committee defers to the DOJ before issuing a report," Fuller wrote — meaning the committee's findings could be delayed indefinitely.
"The key word there is allegation," House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said at a press conference hours before the DOJ news broke, when asked why he had kept Mills in the Republican conference despite domestic violence allegations.
"We have a process here, the House Ethics Committee works on those things," Johnson said.
In February 2025, D.C. police responded to a domestic disturbance at Mills' apartment, finding his girlfriend "physically shaking and scared" with fresh bruises on her arms.
Police sent an arrest warrant to Trump's then-acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, who refused to sign it. The woman later recanted. The Ethics Committee later noted that a decision not to prosecute is "not a finding of innocence or 'no wrongdoing,'" the panel said.
Mills also faces a restraining order from Lindsey Langston, a Republican state committeewoman and Miss United States, who accused him of threatening to release intimate videos of her and to physically harm any man she dated.
In October 2025, Florida state Circuit Judge Fred Koberlein Jr. issued the order — and said he doubted Mills' testimony at the hearing, NBC News reported. One of Mills' messages to Langston read, "Strap up, cowboy."
Mills voted for the Take It Down Act on April 28, 2025 — a law that makes it a federal crime to threaten to release intimate images. Trump signed it May 19.
"I can send him a few videos of you as well. Oh, I still have them," Mills texted Langston that same day, Drop Site News reported.
"I have not been indicted and or accused of any type of financial fraud with regards to federal funds or otherwise," Mills told reporters at the Capitol in April.
