The Justice Department denied that Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) is under investigation after James Fishback, one of his opponents in the Florida Republican gubernatorial primary, said he faced a “federal sex trafficking probe.”
“Falsely accusing someone of being under investigation is a dangerous form of weaponization. This claim is not true. Congressman Byron Donalds is not under investigation,” the DOJ Rapid Response X account posted.
Falsely accusing someone of being under investigation is a dangerous form of weaponization. This claim is not true. Congressman Byron Donalds is not under investigation. https://t.co/QW26cT7b4d
— DOJ Rapid Response (@DOJRR47) August 7, 2026
“Byron Donalds and Cory Mills are under investigation for federal sex trafficking. The dates that prosecutors are focused on are May 17, 2024 and November 19, 2024 at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, which my campaign has confirmed with a whistleblower, text messages from Cory Mills, and photographs of the two men there,” Fishback said on Thursday.
Watch below:
Byron Donalds and Cory Mills are under investigation for federal sex trafficking. The dates that prosecutors are focused on are May 17, 2024 and November 19, 2024 at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, which my campaign has confirmed with a whistleblower, text… pic.twitter.com/Y7hEC0UELy
— James Fishback (@j_fishback) August 6, 2026
Florida Politics has more:
The allegations are grave. But given the source, and the timing, less than two weeks before the Aug. 18 Republican Primary, they are hard to take seriously without corroboration.
Fishback said the Justice Department refused to comment on whether it is investigating Donalds, and said Donalds should “speak directly to the voters” about the unsubstantiated claim. The Department has since gone further than declining comment, with a spokesperson telling News 6 Orlando: “This claim is not true. Congressman Byron Donalds is not under investigation.”
The accusation doubles as a closing argument, one that buries Fishback’s own ethical and legal baggage beneath attacks on the Donald Trump-endorsed front-runner.
Fishback owes his former hedge fund employer, Greenlight Capital, more than $1.3 million. A federal Magistrate Judge in January ordered Fishback to turn over Azoria stock certificates and dozens of personal luxury purchases to the U.S. Marshals Service to satisfy a separate $229,000 judgment, which Fishback has said he won’t pay.
Donalds’ team called the allegations “completely false.”
“We will not be distracted by this baseless and defamatory sideshow, and neither should you,” said spokesman Gates McGavick, according to Florida Politics.
A law enforcement source told the outlet that the allegations against Mills were “absolutely false.”
A Donalds spokesperson told Newsweek that the congressman “will not be distracted by this baseless and defamatory sideshow.” https://t.co/qM7DtCRl5v
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) August 7, 2026
Newsweek shared further:
In his post, Fishback acknowledged that Donalds and Mills are entitled to the presumption of innocence.
“Let me be crystal clear: Our Constitution entitles Congressmen Mills and Donalds to the presumption of innocence,” Fishback wrote. “But while they deserve that presumption, voters deserve transparency.”
Fishback also claimed he had given Donalds an opportunity to address the allegations publicly, writing, “I specifically gave Congressman Donalds the opportunity to make the fact he is under investigation public. But he chose not to.”
Fishback said he would not use the allegations in campaign advertising, writing that the issue was about transparency rather than politics.
“This is the first and last time I will discuss this publicly,” Fishback wrote. “My campaign will not run any television ads or mailers detailing any of this because this is not political. It’s about transparency for Florida voters.”
