Florida judge grants protective order against US Rep. Cory Mills at request of ex-girlfriend

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LAKE CITY, Florida (AP) — A Florida judge has granted a protective order against Republican U.S. Rep. Cory Mills at the request of a former girlfriend who claimed that he threatened to release nude images of her and physically harm her future boyfriends after she broke up with him.

Under the order issued Tuesday by Circuit Judge Fred Koberlein in Columbia County, Florida, Mills can have no contact with his ex-girlfriend and may not go within 500 feet of her residence or where she works. Mills also is prohibited from referring to her on social media.

The order is in effect through the end of the year, and any violation can result in a fine or imprisonment.

The order was issued following an earlier hearing before the judge in Lake City, about 60 miles east of Jacksonville. After hearing testimony, the judge said he had concluded that the woman was either a victim of dating violence or that she had reason to believe she was in danger of becoming a victim of dating violence.

Mills has previously called the allegations “false” and said they misrepresented the nature of their interactions. His attorney, John Terhune, didn't respond to an emailed inquiry on Wednesday, and a spokeswoman also didn't respond to an email asking for comment about the order. In August, when the allegations first surfaced, Mills said they were being pushed by a former political opponent

The 26-year-old woman told Columbia County Sheriff’s Office investigators that she had started a romantic relationship with the 45-year-old Mills in 2021, and it ended in February. During their time together, she lived with him at a home in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, while the congressman traveled back and forth from Washington. At the time they met, Mills was still married but had separated from his wife, and he told her that the divorce was finalized in 2024, she said.

The woman said she moved out of the New Smyrna Beach home earlier this year and moved to Columbia County following news reports about domestic disturbance allegations against Mills from another woman described as his girlfriend in Washington.

Mills was first elected to Congress in 2022, and his district stretches from the Orlando area to the Daytona Beach area.