Noah Lanard

Five takeaways from our investigation into Rep. Cory Mills From stolen valor to a restraining order, here’s what we found.

And you can 5 of the key takeaways from the investigation here: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Everybody hates Cory Sex workers, bankruptcy, stolen valor, a restraining order, and Trump's “Complete and Total” endorsement for Congress.

All that and, somehow, still more is in our full profile of Mills here: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

In October, a Florida judge granted the restraining order against Mills after deciding that the Florida Republican had harassed and subjected his ex-girlfriend to “dating violence” via cyberstalking.

The ex-girlfriend, who is nearly two decades Mills' junior, asked the congressman to stop contacting her 11 times.

In August, she filed for a restraining order.

After the second girlfriend ended their relationship, Mills repeatedly threatened her and said he would kill anyone she dated, according to court records and testimony.

Here are some of the messages he sent her in May and June.

In February 2025, DC police responded to a 911 call reporting an alleged assault at Mills’ penthouse in the city.

The girlfriend who made the call has since retracted the claim. But as a result of the call, a second girlfriend learned that Mills was cheating on her.

The third Army vet whom Mills claims to have saved has written that the congressman's account is "false and a [f]abrication."

He added in a statement shared with congressional investigators, "The act never took place. The event never happened.”

The form that recommended Mills for the Bronze Star claims that he saved the lives of three men across two battles.

One of the men was grievously injured and has no memory of the battle. A second told me he's never met Mills and did not even sustain life-threatening injuries.

One of Mills' most concerning scandals involves allegations of stolen valor.

In 2024, Army records show that Mills was awarded a Bronze Star for actions he claims to have taken in 2003—more than two decades before.

But none of Mills' scandals came out during the campaign. And, like Santos, he joined the Republican freshman class of 2022.

Two congressional sources told me they have heard from multiple people that Mills drunkenly punched someone on a trip to Ireland during his first term.

As @sollenbergerrc.bsky.social has reported, Mills reportedly hired sex workers during his first campaign while in the country of Georgia as part of a "rescue mission" to Afghanistan.

What happens next is key to Mills' story. As his business struggled, Mills pivoted away from arms dealing.

He had a new plan: run for Congress.

But the success was short-lived. Mills' arms dealing company quickly started hemorrhaging cash then failed to pay back an SBA loan.

Finally, in 2015, Mills got his big break. After starting an arms dealing company, he was party to a $228 million arms deal with the Iraqi government.

Soon after, he and his second wife were living in a Virginia mansion.

They also said that Mills failed to to back up the inflated claims about his military credentials then suddenly left Iraq when it came time to provide the proof or get sent home.

After the Army, Mills became a private military contractor in Afghanistan and Iraq. Former colleagues told me Mills falsely claimed to have been an elite Army Ranger on numerous occasions during that period.

A key part of Mills' story about himself is that he served in Iraq while in the Army. Normally vets stick up for each other.

Not with Mills. Here's what someone who served under him and who now owns a gun store had to say.

Despite all this, Mills got a "Complete and Total" endorsement from Trump earlier this month.

Trump backed Mills by calling him "A Successful Entrepreneur and "Bronze Star recipient." My and others' reporting casts serious doubt on both those claims.

Mills' personality was summed up by someone who knows him as "fake alpha male."

The congressman likes to insinuate that he was in special forces but I found nothing in his military record to support that claim in any meaningful way

Mills' behavior and record has led to concern that he poses a national security threat. As a former CIA official told me, “If you were giving a security briefing,” Mills could be a case study of “all the things not to do."

Before Congress, Mills started an arms company that relied on selling high-explosive 40mm grenades to Middle Eastern governments, per court records.

But Mills did not prove to be a particularly successful arms dealer. His company is now tens of millions in debt and facing foreclosure.

It's hard to convey just how many scandals Mills is facing.

Just in 2025: a girlfriend accused Mills of domestic violence before retracting the claim, a second woman was granted a restraining order against Mills, and the congressman was credibly accused of lying to receive a Bronze Star.

Mills' behavior and personality have led to bipartisan disdain. He has alienated not only his Democratic colleagues in the House but also Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace, Anna Paulina Luna, and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

One of the most striking things in reporting on Mills was seeing just how much former associates dislike him. Some words I heard: "schmuck," "douchebag," "repulsive and vile."

A medic who once reported to Mills in the Army told me, “I wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire.”

Everybody hates Cory Sex workers, bankruptcy, stolen valor, a restraining order, and Trump's “Complete and Total” endorsement for Congress.

I reported extensively on George Santos in 2023—including by exposing the fake donor scheme to which he later pled guilty.

Not since then have I encountered a public official whose record is filled with so many red flags and apparent falsehoods.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

My profile of Congressman Cory Mills is based on interviews with 18 people who have known the Florida Republican from his youth to the present day.

There's stolen valor, a restraining order, a failed grenade company, sex workers, a Trump endorsement, and much much more.

Here's what I found.

Here's a three-minute video that goes through my reporting in the profile below. The My Cousin Vinny-esque cross examination at the start alone is worth the watch.

Watch this if you want to see a sitting member of Congress say something obviously false under oath before getting hit with a restraining order.

Pro tip: Don't tell a lawyer cross-examining you that your divorce hasn't filed if she is holding your divorce papers in her hand.

You’ve got to click through to really be able to read this, but note that the box on the top right says this will actually be a two-level facility, with around 5,200 beds on the ground floor (if I’m reading the blurry text right) and around 3,100 on the “mezzanine.”

Over the past few months, I have spoken to over a dozen people who know Rep. Cory Mills. Nearly everyone, I found, dislikes him. Some outright despise him: “repulsive and vile,” “schmuck,” “little bitch.” Others were more formal. “I have no use for people with no honor,” an Idaho firearms instructor who worked with Mills in the Middle East told me. The most blunt was a veteran who once reported to Mills in the Army. He told me of the congressman from Florida: “I wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire.”

Now that's a lede

From @nlanard.bsky.social www.motherjones.com/politics/202...