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In proudly proclaiming on Thursday that he sicced the FBI on Texas Democrats who are trying to keep his party from rigging the 2026 midterms, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) revealed a lot about himself, the state of the GOP, and the blatant weaponization of the Department of Justice under Donald Trump. 

“I am proud to announce that Director Kash Patel has approved my request for the FBI to assist state and local law enforcement in locating runaway Texas House Democrats,” Cornyn said.

There is a lot to unpack in just that one sentence. 

But before we get to that, it’s important to note that Cornyn used to be a fairly normal Republican, i.e., he wanted rich people to have more money and women to have fewer abortions. 

He certainly wasn’t one of those flashy right-wing performance artists like Rafael Cruz (R), the junior senator from the Lone Star State. One of the reasons why was probably that, unlike Cruz, Cornyn never had any designs on the presidency and was perfectly content with the job he had. 

But that job is now in danger because he is being challenged from the MAGA wing of the party by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Therefore, Cornyn felt compelled to get in on the act since it is no longer enough for Republican politicians to espouse conservative principles; they also have to do Trump’s bidding and pull outrageous stunts.

And, since the president wants to keep the House of Representatives next year, he is demanding that Texas rig its congressional maps a bit more in the GOP’s favor, which means Cornyn has to go all-in on this scheme to prove to Republican primary voters that he is the “right” choice. 

Which brings us to today’s news. 

Everything about it is ridiculous, but also telling, and, with regard to Patel’s acquiescence, extremely troubling. 

First of all, the Democrats who fled Texas to prevent Republicans from taking the highly unusual and deeply undemocratic step of redrawing the state’s congressional map mid-decade do not need to be located. 

They aren’t hiding. Everybody knows where they are (or could find out their whereabouts by watching their daily press conferences).

In fact, if the FBI is doing its actual job, i.e., investigating real crimes and not hiding the Epstein files or participating in partisan stunts, then it would be aware of the bomb threat that forced those lawmakers to be evacuated from their hotel on Wednesday.

That’s an actual crime worth investigating by the agency tasked with doing such things. 

Speaking of which, it is deeply disconcerting (though hardly surprising) that Patel is going along with this nonsense. 

While the crime rate under President Joe Biden declined to one of the lowest points in recent history, the FBI must still have better things to do than harassing lawmakers who are standing up for democracy. The fact that the Bureau is spending its resources on this stunt shows how far down the road to authoritarianism the country has traveled under Trump.

And what is the interstate crime here based on which the FBI is supposed to get involved? Defying Republicans across state lines? Protecting the integrity of national elections? 

That brings us to the crux of this matter. This isn’t about a “crime” at all, but rather about using the power of the federal government, and specifically that of the Department of Justice (which is supposed to be nonpolitical), to do Trump’s bidding and give Republicans a massive edge during the midterms. 

The fact that all of this is happening on the 60th anniversary of the effective date of the Voting Rights Act makes it even more shameful. 

In the grand scheme of things, what Cornyn and Patel are doing here seems like a small thing. But in reality, it should send a chill down the spine of any American who believes in democracy and the impartiality of the Justice Department.