Restraining Order Issued Against Florida Congressman, House Speaker Signals Incoming Ethics Probe

A Florida judge issued a restraining order against Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), requiring him to stay away from his ex-girlfriend, telling the congressman he found his testimony unbelievable.

Lindsey Langston, a Florida Republican state committeewoman who was crowned Miss United States 2024, filed the emergency petition for injunction in August after separately telling law enforcement in July that Mills had threatened to release explicit photos and videos of her and to harm any other men she may date.

The judge wrote Langston has “reasonable cause to believe she is in imminent danger of becoming the victim of another act of dating violence” — in this case, cyberstalking, as defined by Florida statute — without the injunction.

Langston asked Mills to leave her alone on 11 separate occasions from May through June.

Mills, who is married, was also dating another woman in Washington. News reports about a physical altercation between Mills and the second girlfriend prompted Langston to break off her relationship with him. That, she said, prompted Mills to issue a series of menacing messages threatening to release explicit photos and videos of her. 

Mills, who has denied the charges, told the court some of the communication was “for the purpose of ‘unwinding’ the relationship,” but the court said he “was unable to provide a logical or rational explanation” as to how.

The Hill reports:

One May 7 message said: “You want to date or be with someone else. Be my guest. But they need to know well in advance that if we cross paths, I don’t care this week, this month, or this decade. They better damn well know it’s coming every time.”

A May 15 message said: “May want to tell every guy you date that if we run into each other at any point. Strap up cowboy.”

“I can send him a few videos of you as well[.] Oh, I still have them,” Mills sent May 15.

Until Jan. 1, Mills is prohibited from contacting Langston in any way and is prohibited from going within 500 feet of her residence or place of employment.

On Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) praised Mills as a “faithful colleague” but suggested the Ethics Committee could open an investigation into him after a Florida judge issued a restraining order against Mills over allegations that he threatened a former girlfriend. 

“I have not heard or looked into any of the details of that. I’ve been a little busy,” Johnson told reporters in the Capitol, where he’s been throughout the government shutdown. “We have a House Ethics Committee. If it warrants that, I’m sure they’ll look into that.” 

“You have to ask Rep. Mills about that. He’s been a faithful colleague here. I know his work on the Hill. I don’t know all the details of all the individual allegations, and what he’s doing — things outside life,” Johnson said.