U.S. Rep. Cory Mills of Florida has been blocked from contact with his ex-girlfriend Lindsey Langston, the current Miss United States and a Republican state committeewoman, after she alleged that Mills threatened to release intimate images and videos of her following a breakup and threatened any of her future boyfriends.
Florida 3rd Circuit Judge Fred Koberlein, Jr., on Oct. 14 imposed a protective injunction against dating violence, effective until Jan. 1, 2026.
During that time, Mills may not commit violence nor have contact with Langston, and shall not go within 500 feet of her home or 100 feet of her vehicle, the 14-page order says.
This marks the latest event in a series of scandals for Mills.
In September, U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-Brooklyn, introduced a resolution to censure Mills, alleging he has “on several occasions conducted himself in a manner that reflects discredit on the House of Representatives.” The resolution was referred to the House Committee on Ethics.
Along with the claims from Langston, Clarke cited questions about his service in the U.S. Army and the release of an ethics investigation into accusations that Mills violated federal laws by benefiting from government contracts while a member of Congress.
Rep. Nancy Mace, currently running for governor of South Carolina, has been hammering on Mills’ Army service, most recently after Mills was one of four Republicans who helped kill her measure to censure Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar over Omar’s comments about slain Republican activist Charlie Kirk.
Mills, 45, a U.S. Representative of Florida’s 7th District, former combat veteran, security contractor and Trump ally, has denied the allegations.
Here’s what to know.
Why was US Rep. Cory Mills hit with a restraining order by Lindsey Langston?
Mills, who is married but separated, began dating Langston, 26, in November 2021, according to the Columbia County sheriff’s report. She said she broke up with him in February and moved back in with her parents in Lake City after news broke that D.C. police were investigating an assault report involving Mills and his live-in girlfriend, Sarah Raviani.
Langston, who was living in Mills’ New Smyrna Beach residence at the time, had been unaware Mills had another live-in girlfriend.
Raviani later recanted her claim. Mills was never charged for assault and denied wrongdoing, although WRC-TV reported that the D.C. police sent an arrest warrant to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, but then-acting U.S. Attorney Ed Martin refused to sign off.
The Sheriff’s Office report states that Mills continued to contact Langston for months against her wishes despite her efforts to block him, and threatened to have her stripped of her Miss United States title and “to release nude images and videos of her,” including videos of herself and Mills having sex.
Langston provided text messages and Instagram messages to Columbia County investigators between herself and Mills, “which consisted of Cory threatening to harm any men Lindsey intended to date in the future,” the report said.
Mills testified in two September hearings before Judge Koberlein that he and Langston were texting and messaging for months after the breakup with the possibility of reconciliation, as they had two years before. He also said he was referring to videos of her baking and that he did not have videos of her or them of a sexual nature.
The judge pointed out that even were that true, Langston didn’t know that.
“The court, considering the totality of the testimony and circumstances, does not find (Mills’) testimony concerning the intimate videos to be truthful,” Koberlein wrote. “… There was no evidence presented suggesting (Langston) knew (Mills) no longer had possession of their intimate videos. The effect of (Mills’) references to videos and the dissemination of such on (Langston) had been made.”
Langston’s attorney described her fear of going out and multiple emotional breakdowns of anxiety and panic “all because of Cory Mills’ repeated pattern of harassment, intimidation and threats.”
Why is US Rep. Cory Mills being investigated in Congress?
Mills is currently facing a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations that he benefited from contracts with the federal government while in office.
The congressman is a decorated U.S. Army veteran who was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and received the Bronze Star for saving the lives of two fellow soldiers.
After returning to civilian life, he worked as a military contractor and risk-management specialist for multiple companies before co-founding his own, PACEM Solutions International LLC, a risk management and consulting firm, PACEM Defense, a private security company, and ALS Less-Lethal Systems, which manufactures military and law enforcement equipment.
In August 2024, the board of the Office of Congressional Conduct said that Mills appeared to be violating federal laws and House rules with $1.8 million he used to fund his congressional campaign, Business Insider reported.
“The OCE found that from January 2023 to present, Pacem Defense/ALS, has been actively contracting with the federal government, securing close to $1,000,000 in federal contracts for munitions and weapons, distributed to prisons across the country,” the report said. “Specifically, since January 9, 2024, 94 contracts have been awarded to entities owned by Rep. Mills.”
Mills said he had divested from his businesses, but his public financial disclosures covering 2022 still listed ownership of the Pacem companies, Business Insider said.
Mills has denied any wrongdoing and his lawyer pointed out that the Federal Elections Commission dismissed complaints against him, but the FEC said it did not detemine if his congressional ethics disclosures were accurate.
Why was US Rep. Cory Mills’ military service questioned?
During Mills’ 2024 campaign, he was challenged in the primary by retired Department of Defense employee Michael Johnson, who accused Mills of lying about his military service, specifically his claim of earning a Bronze Star. Mills’ discharge summary document also does not list any foreign service.
Mills admitted some of his paperwork contained errors, but provided a medal-confirmation memo and other documents to The Daytona Beach News-Journal he said proved he served in Iraq in 2003 and earned a Bronze Star with heroism.
However, one of the men named in the award recommendation says he did not suffer life-threatening injuries and Mills didn’t save his life, and a medic who flew the other man out told the news site NOTUS that he doesn’t remember Mills being there. There have also been accusations that Mills was never in Iraq, but a seriously wounded soldier’s mother said Mills was her son’s team leader there.
In September, after Rep. Mace attacked him over his war record, Mills posted defenses of his service, including a letter from a fellow service member.
“On multiple occasions Team-21 was attacked by insurgents with improvised explosive devices (IEDs and EFPs),” the letter reads. “Cory was present for two of these attacks.”
“I’m tired of the slander and the defamation,” Mills said earlier. “I ran for office to be able to serve the American people, not to defend something I did 20 years ago over and over and over.”
Did US Rep. Cory MIlls get evicted?
In July, the news broke that Mills’ D.C. landlord was trying to evict him from his nearly $21,000-per-month luxury penthouse for more than $85,000 in unpaid rent.
Mills said there was a problem with his online payments and made good his back rent.
Will US Rep. Cory Mills be censured by Congress?
Unknown. A censure, or a formal vote of disapproval, requires a majority vote of Congress, which is currently majority Republican. However, Rep. Mace, also a Republican, is feuding with him over the Omar vote and could try to swing other Republicans against him.
A censure is a reprimand but it does not come with legal consequences, nor does it affect a congressperson’s status, title or power to vote. However, a censure can be a powerful form of public shaming, as the person’s misdeeds are read on the floor of the chamber.
Who is Cory Mills?
Cory Lee Mills was born in Winter Haven, Florida, and raised by his grandparents in Auburndale, according to his congressional bio. He earned an associate of arts degree in liberal arts and sciences from Florida State College at Jacksonville, and a bachelor of science degree in health sciences and a Master of Arts in international relations and conflict resolution from American Military University.
In the Army, he served as a sniper with the 82nd Airborne Division and Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and worked as a private subcontractor in Iraq and the Middle East after that. He has since assisted in multiple operations, including helping to evacuate Americans out of Afghanistan in 2021, Israel in 2023 and Haiti earlier this year.
Mills is married to naturalized Iraq refugee Rana Al Saadi, who worked in an advisory role for the Trump administration and co-founded the PACEM companies. Mills told Blaze Media in May that the couple has been going through divorce proceedings for 2½ years and have been separated for three. They have three children.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Who is Cory Mills? Florida congressman slapped with restraining order. What we know
Reporting by C. A. Bridges and Mark Harper, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
