COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. – Florida congressman Cory Mills appeared in a Columbia County courtroom on Friday after allegations of harassment from his ex-girlfriend.
According to News4JAX’s sister station WKMG in Orlando, Lindsey Langston, reigning Miss United States and a Columbia County Republican state committeewoman, is seeking a restraining order against Mills.
According to court documents, Langston, 25, visited the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office on July 14 to report threats made by Mills.
“I thought I could handle this and I can’t. I can’t handle it by myself,” Langston said in court. “Please help me.”
The documents show the couple began dating in 2021 and lived together in Mills’ New Smyrna Beach home. Langston said she left Mills after news surfaced that another woman living in Mills’ Washington, D.C., home accused him of assault. That woman later withdrew her accusation.
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“I got scared about going places with my younger brother because I didn’t want, if somebody’s watching me, I didn’t want them to think I was on a date and them start following my little brother,” Langston testified.
Since their breakup, Langston claims Mills has threatened to release nude images and videos of her, including recordings of them engaging in sexual acts.
“I panicked. I immediately knew what videos he was referencing,” Langston said. “And I was beginning to panic because that could ruin my reputation. You know, I felt comfortable. This was somebody that I was in a relationship with for going on 3 years - 3, 4 years at this point. There were talks of us getting married, I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with this person. I never anticipated them using that against me.”
Screenshots of messages between Mills and Langston show Mills writing, “I’m sorry to see this is how you treat things. Good luck. Thanks again for the videos.” Langston responded, “Haven’t you hurt me enough? Please leave me alone.”
However, Mills told the court he wasn’t talking about sexual images when he referenced videos and text messages.
“I had started to hear things about the fact she was seeing someone at the same time as she was seeing me,” Mills said. “... Videos was videos of us, showing that we were together probably around the same time she was also with this individual.”
He also said in court that he did not have any of the sexual videos that Langston sent or made with him.
“Not only deleted them, but my phone, as I provided the Apple receipt, had been damaged and I was unable to recover most of what was there,” Mills said.
Mills denies any wrongdoing.
Because Friday’s hearing went long, both parties will have to return at a later date when the judge will decide whether Langston will be granted a restraining order against Mills.