New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Thursday pushed back against claims by Republicans that the FBI would help “track down” Texas state Democrats who fled the Lone Star State amid the redistricting battle.
“First of all, I have a lot of respect for the FBI, but I guarantee there are far more important pursuits that they should be engaging in, like human trafficking, breaking up drug cartels, stopping terrorist attacks here in New York City,” Hochul said on MSNBC’s “The Weeknight.”
“So I think this is an abuse of the power of the FBI to direct them to go after duly elected officials in the United States of America,” the governor continued. “If we’ve fallen that far, that makes our fight even more important — that all people stand up and say, ‘We’re not going to let you take away our democracy, and you’re not going to hunt down our elected officials.’”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) shared earlier Thursday that FBI Director Kash Patel approved his request to assist in locating and possibly detaining the Democrats who left Texas to avoid voting on new Congressional maps they argue unfairly favor the GOP ahead of the 2026 midterms.
The Texas Senate Special Committee on Congressional Redistricting advanced the map Thursday with the updated lines that could win the GOP at least five more seats in House next year.
Hochul warned Thursday night the Democrats will “fight fire with fire” if Republicans do not back down from their redistricting efforts.
“I didn’t want to take on this fight. I’ve always followed the rules,” the governor continued. “Democrats always follow the rules, but when they’re willing to do this to subvert our democracy, shame on us if we don’t stand up. So, I will get it done in 2028, if necessary, if they continue down this path.”
“And, of course, they can stop. They want to stop this game, they can stop right now, and we’ll stand down as well,” she said. “But until then, we’re not going to be on the sidelines.”
Her comments come as Democratic lawmakers are investigating potential FBI involvement. Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, urged the agency to stay out of the matter.
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