The House Ethics Committee launched a formal investigation Wednesday into a host of allegations against Rep. Cory Mills, following a push for censure by his Republican colleague, Rep. Nancy Mace.
Mills on Wednesday night was the subject of his third censure resolution this year, which alleges that the Florida Republican has engaged in domestic violence, abused his committee appointments to benefit his personal businesses and made false statements about his military record.
Just prior to the scheduled vote, Mills filed a successful motion to refer the censure to the House Ethics Committee.
“Cooperating with them [ethics committee] is my top priority,” Mills said on the House floor. “I believe all the accusations and false things being said will be proven to be absolutely false in many ways and I have the evidence and the receipts.”
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On Monday, New York Democrat Yvette Clarke announced a Democratic-led censure resolution against Mills, which she ultimately chose not to bring to the House floor after Democrats failed to censure their own Del. Stacey Plaskett for her documented relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Mace introduced another censure resolution Wednesday, which would strip Mills of his committee assignments. Mace has since posted about it to X nearly a dozen times.
“Rep. Mills’ record is tainted by allegations of stolen valor, domestic a*use, and arms deals with the U.S. government and foreign nations while serving in Congress,” Mace posted. “This is not a man who should be sitting in the House Armed Services Committee or the Committee on Foreign Affairs.”
“If you thought we were done with a letter to strip Cory Mills from his committee’s .... think again. We’re offering a Privileged Motion to CENSURE Rep. Cory Mills,” said another post. “This isn’t about party lines, it’s about integrity. No more hiding behind the establishment to protect abusers and grifters. This is swamp behavior at its worst.”
In a social media post, Mace called the Ethics committee’s plans to form an investigative subcommittee a “naked attempt to kill my resolution.”
“Common sense tells us we don’t need an investigative subcommittee to decide if Cory Mills, who a Court found to be an immediate and present danger of committing dating violence against a woman, should serve on committees related to national security. Or the testimony of soldiers and the stolen valor,” Mace posted to X.
NOTUS first reported the discrepancies in Mills’ military record in May, revealing that while he had received a Bronze Star in 2021, five veterans who served with him — including two Mills is credited with saving — said they have no recollection of him being at the scene.
“He didn’t save my life,” Private First Class Joe Heit, who is cited by name on the recommendation form as one of the soldiers Mills saved, told NOTUS. “I don’t recall him being there either.”
Mills has denied all allegations that he misrepresented his time in the military.
“Cory Mills earned his Bronze Star and the paperwork proves it,” Catherine Treadwell, Mills’ chief of staff and general counsel wrote in a statement posted by Mills Wednesday. “General [Arnold Gordon-] Bray authorized and approved this award and any assertion that I signed General Bray’s paperwork without authorization is at best uninformed and at worst is offensive slander.”
Bray told NOTUS in May that he did not “care about” the four achievements listed on Mills’ Bronze Star recommendation form and that awards were often submitted and approved in batches.
“I approved his 638 as a complete the record,” Gordon-Bray texted NOTUS, confirming he was part of the administrative process to approve Mills’ award after his deployment.
In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson laying out allegations against Mills, Mace said her office also connected with Bray.
“We actually spoke to General Bray who acknowledged he did not physically sign the form, nor did he read it prior to his signation being affixed on the form 638,” Mace’s letter read.
In addition to claims of stolen valor, Mace alleges Mills abused his role on the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees to benefit his personal contracting firms, Pacem Solutions International and Pacem Defense, in which he retains an ownership interest.
“In 2024, the Office of Congressional Conduct found ‘from January 2023 to present, Pacem Defense/ALS, has been actively contracting with the federal government, securing close to $1,000,000 in federal contracts for munitions and weapons, distributed to prisons across the country,’” Mace’s letter continued.
The Ethics subcommittee formed Wednesday is charged with determining “whether Representative Cory Mills violated the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation, or other applicable standard of conduct in the performance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibilities.”
Members of the committee have not been announced.
The House is expected to vote Wednesday night on Mace’s resolution to censure Mills, though it appears likely Republicans will back a motion to refer the censure to the Ethics Committee instead.
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