Pritzker not worried of arrest of TX state lawmakers after announcement of FBI search

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Texas U.S. Senator John Corryn (R-TX) said he’s working with FBI director Kash Patel to find the lawmakers who left his state, many of whom are in Illinois. Governor J.B. Pritzker said he is not worried about them being arrested.

Most of the Texas House Democrats have been denying quorum this week by staying in a hotel in suburban Chicago with the help of Governor J.B. Pritzker. This has stalled the vote for Texas’s redistricting map which would redraw five congressional seats to favor republicans.

Corryn thanked President Donald Trump and Patel for “holding these supposed lawmakers accountable for fleeing Texas.”

“We cannot allow these rogue legislators to avoid their constitutional responsibilities,” Corryn said in a statement Thursday morning.

Pritzker criticized the move as “grandstanding.”

“I welcome the FBI coming to the state,” Pritzker said at a news conference Thursday. “I hope they take in the State Fair. I hope they go see the beauty of Lake Michigan. But they won’t be arresting anyone, because there is no US federal law that prohibits those Texas House Democrats from being here in the state of Illinois.”

He also said the Texas lawmakers were “heroes.”

“We’re doing the right thing and I’m proud of it and I’m not going to back down,” he added.

Illinois Republicans have criticized Pritzker for signing off on maps they view as gerrymandered. Princeton University’s Gerrymandering Project gave both Texas and Illinois an F rating for its Congressional maps.

“When Pritzker welcomes fleeing lawmakers and plays national politics, it’s not just hypocritical, it’s offensive,” House Republican Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savana) said in a statement. “Illinoisans continue to lose faith in a system where competitive districts have vanished, communities are carved for party gain, and voters are stripped of real choices.”