On October 14, 2025, a Florida circuit court judge issued a restraining order against U.S. Representative Cory Mills, a Republican from Florida’s 7th Congressional District, following disturbing allegations of harassment and threats made by his former girlfriend, Lindsey Langston. Langston, a prominent state GOP committeewoman and the reigning Miss United States, accused Mills of a pattern of behavior that, according to the judge, amounted to dating violence and caused her significant emotional distress.
The restraining order, granted after two days of emotional testimony in a Lake City courtroom, prohibits Mills from contacting Langston directly or indirectly—including via social media—and requires him to stay at least 500 feet from her home, workplace, and other designated locations until January 1, 2026. The injunction was requested by Langston on August 5, 2025, and served to Mills two days later, following a July report she made to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. In her report, Langston alleged that Mills threatened to release intimate photos and videos of her and made explicit threats toward any men she might date in the future.
According to court documents cited by The Hill and Orlando Sentinel, Langston and Mills began dating in November 2021, when she was 22 and Mills was 41. At the time, Mills was living apart from his wife, a separation that had begun in 2019. Langston moved in with Mills in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, believing he was divorced. However, doubts about Mills’s fidelity surfaced in December 2024, when Langston discovered a photo of another woman—later identified in court as Sarah Raviani, or “Girlfriend 2”—in Mills’s Washington, D.C. residence. Mills had initially told Langston that Raviani was a woman who had become obsessed with him and forced her way into his apartment, a story that was later contradicted by evidence presented in court.
The situation escalated in February 2025, when police investigated a domestic dispute between Mills and Raviani at his D.C. residence. Although both Mills and Raviani denied any physical altercation, and Mills was not prosecuted, the incident was reported in the media and contributed to Langston’s decision to end the relationship. She moved out of Mills’s Florida home between late February and early March 2025. Despite the breakup, Mills continued to contact Langston throughout May and June, even as he was living with Raviani. The judge noted that Mills’s explanations for these communications were “difficult to comprehend and for the most part incomprehensible,” especially as Mills claimed he was unsure whether they were reconciling or “unwinding” the relationship.
During the hearings, Langston described a barrage of unwanted messages from Mills, many of which were introduced as evidence. In one particularly menacing message sent on May 7, Mills wrote, “You want to date or be with someone else. Be my guest. But they need to know well in advance that if we cross paths, I don’t care this week, this month, or this decade. They better damn well know it’s coming every time.” On May 15, he added, “May want to tell every guy you date that if we run into each other at any point. Strap up cowboy.” That same day, Mills threatened, “I can send him a few videos of you as well. Oh, I still have them.”
According to Orlando Sentinel, Langston testified that these videos were sexual in nature. Mills, for his part, told the court that he had deleted any intimate videos and that his iPhone was broken, making it impossible to access them. He claimed that the videos he referenced were innocuous, such as one of Langston baking in their kitchen, and were never intended as threats. The judge, however, found Mills’s testimony untruthful and noted that Langston had no way of knowing the videos had been deleted. The court determined that Mills’s communications were “all intended to cause… substantial emotional distress.”
Langston asked Mills to cease contact on 11 separate occasions between May and June 2025, but the messages continued. After she filed for the restraining order in August, Mills allegedly escalated his efforts to reach her by using his second girlfriend’s phone to contact Langston and her family, and by instructing a public employee under his supervision to do the same. The judge concluded that Mills’s conduct forced Langston to alter her daily routine out of fear, impairing her ability to perform her job and live a normal life.
While Langston has not made a public statement since the injunction was granted, Mills has publicly denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated. “These claims misrepresent the nature of my interactions,” Mills stated, according to the Associated Press. “I have always conducted myself with integrity, both personally and in service to Florida’s 7th District.”
The fallout from the case has been swift. Noah Widmann, a Democrat running for Mills’s congressional seat, called for his immediate resignation. “I grew up in a home with domestic violence, so I know the fear and pain that comes with it. My mom stood up to protect me from abuse, and I applaud Ms. Langston for her courageous stand against a powerful Member of Congress. I’m disgusted by Cory Mills’ behavior. No one who behaves this way should hold a position of public trust. Cory Mills is not fit to serve, and Congress should immediately begin proceedings to expel him. Central Florida deserves honest leadership.”
The case has also drawn attention to Mills’s broader controversies. As reported by Orlando Sentinel, the House Ethics Committee is currently investigating Mills’s business dealings and financial disclosures, including whether he benefited from federal contracts while in office. Mills, an Army veteran with an estimated net worth of $24 million, co-founded several defense contracting and security companies. He was first elected to Congress in 2022 and represents a district stretching from Orlando to Daytona Beach, including Seminole and Volusia counties.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is reviewing the harassment case, but as of the judge’s ruling, no criminal charges have been filed. It remains unclear whether prosecutors will pursue further action against Mills. The restraining order, however, stands as a significant legal and political rebuke, with the court finding that Langston “does have a reasonable cause to believe she is in imminent danger of becoming the victim of another act of dating violence without an injunction being entered.”
As the legal process and ethics investigations continue, the case has placed a spotlight on issues of power, accountability, and personal conduct among public officials. For now, the court’s decision sends a clear message about the seriousness of dating violence and the protections available under Florida law.
