LAKE CITY, Florida — Rep. Cory Mills tried to convince a Florida judge Friday that he never planned to circulate “salacious” videos of his ex-girlfriend or harm any of her future lovers, suggesting at one point he knew it would be politically damaging to take any such action.
Mills spoke in court as he tried to fend off a request for a restraining order from Lindsay Langston, the 2024 Miss United States and a Republican state committee woman, who is accusing Mills of causing her extreme emotional distress.
Circuit Judge Fred Koberlein said he plans to rule on the injunction request once he receives final recommendations from attorneys that are due next Thursday. The announcement followed the second of two hearings this month where both Mills and Langston testified and answered questions about their relationship and the meaning of a flurry of text messages, phone calls and direct messages between the two of them.
The push for the restraining order against Mills comes amid a swirl of controversies this year for second-term Republican, including a since-withdrawn allegation of assault and an ethics investigation into whether he’s benefited from contracts from the federal government while serving as a member of Congress. Mills has denied any wrongdoing in either matter.
During the first hearing Langston spent extensive time explaining how scared she was of the 45-year-old Mills. She described him as a “powerful” and “wealthy” member of Congress who first became involved with her in late 2021.
The second hearing focused on testimony from Mills. A key part centered on whether Mills had a sexually explicit video that he planned to release. He maintained that while Langston had sent him intimate videos, he no longer had access to them because his phone was damaged and had to be replaced.
Mills maintained the videos he mentioned to Langston were those of her baking and wanted to show any potential boyfriend of hers that the two of them had an ongoing relationship.
“You’re talking about giving up my entire career — for what?” said Mills about the prospect of releasing the intimate videos, adding that he had no “intent to do anything salacious.”
Mills also contended another message he sent where he suggested a future boyfriend would need to “strap up cowboy” was not a potential threat of violence but instead was a rodeo term meant to suggest that a “wild ride” was about to happen.
Mills also pushed back on previous testimony from Langston that he had been “suicidal” at one point earlier year and instead said he was under stress due to the ill health of his mother and the death of a close friend.
Bobi Frank, Langston’s attorney, tried to undercut Mills’ testimony and grilled him over why he was still married after saying he planned to divorce his wife. Mills answered that he has been trying to end his marriage for four years but that it was complicated due to his business interests and that it “wasn’t a typical divorce.”
Mills’ relationship with Langston unraveled in the aftermath of an incident where police in Washington were called to investigate an alleged assault by the lawmaker against a woman. Both Mills and the woman denied that any assault took place, and Mills was not charged in the incident.
Langston testified earlier this month that the incident led her to conclude Mills was in a relationship with another woman.
The attorney for Mills put Langston back on the stand late in the hearing where he tried to suggest that she was not in emotional distress as she previously testified. He also tried to get her to explain why she turned to Anthony Sabatini, a combative Florida attorney who challenged Mills in the 2022 GOP primary, for legal advice.
She asserted again that she was “terrified” of Mills and remains “afraid” to go on a date because of his threats. Asked if she had ever been physically harmed by Mills, she said, “Not yet.”
Mills first won his seat in 2022 after post-Census redistricting created new GOP-friendly lines for the 7th District, stretching from Orlando’s north suburbs to the Atlantic coast. His campaigns in both 2022 and 2024 were run with the aid of James Blair, a GOP consultant who now works as a deputy chief of staff for Trump and plays a key role in pushing the president’s agenda on Capitol Hill.