Pritzker says 'no way' FBI can arrest Texas lawmakers in Illinois
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) in a Wednesday interview said he would block any efforts to arrest Democratic lawmakers in the state who fled Texas to block a GOP effort to pick up five additional House seats in the midterm elections.
“Our state troopers protect everybody in Illinois and anybody who’s here in Illinois,” Pritzker said during an appearance on "News Not Noise" with Jessica Yellin.
“And so, whether it’s federal agents coming to Illinois or state rangers from Texas, if you haven’t broken federal law, you’re basically unwelcome and there’s no way that our state legislators here — the Texas state legislators — can be arrested,” he added.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) urged FBI Director Kash Patel in a letter this week to help return Democrats to the Lone Star State.
President Trump on Tuesday said the federal agency “may have to” get involved, later adding the GOP was “entitled” to additional House seats.
“We should have many more seats in California. It’s all gerrymandered. And we have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas,” the president said during an interview Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“And I won Texas. I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats,” he added.
But Pritzker argued Wednesday that any efforts to force the return of Democratic lawmakers are illegal.
“Look, we follow the law and the law is what I just laid it out to be. But, as you know, Donald Trump does not follow the law. Indeed, he’s a convicted felon,” Pritzker told Yellin.
“And in Texas, they are also not following the law. They are thwarting the Constitution with the Voting Rights Act and making threats that they can’t carry out. John Cornyn, of course, is running against Ken Paxton for his seat in the U.S. Senate; and so they’re fighting, bickering over who can be tougher on this topic,” he added.