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Cory Mills
American businessman and politician (born 1980) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Cory Lee Mills (born July 13, 1980) is an American politician, businessman, and Army veteran who has served as the U.S. representative from Florida's 7th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a Trump appointee on the Defense Business Board from 2020 to 2021.[1]
Born and raised in Central Florida, Mills joined the United States Army in 1999 and received the Bronze Star while serving as a U.S. Army sniper during a deployment to Iraq in 2003.[2] After working as a military contractor and graduating from American Military University, he co-founded PACEM Solutions International LLC in 2014. In December 2020, Mills was appointed to the Defense Business Board by President Donald Trump. In February 2021, he resigned from the board upon the request of President Joe Biden.
In 2022, Mills defeated state representative Anthony Sabatini and six others in the Republican primary for Florida's 7th congressional district. He went on to defeat Vice Chair of the Florida Democratic Party Karen Green in the general election. After facing minimal opposition in the Republican primary, Mills was re-elected in the 2024 general election.[3]
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Early life and education
Cory Lee Mills was born on July 13, 1980, in Winter Haven, Florida, the son of Teresa (née Pearson) and Christopher Mills.[4] He earned an Associate of Arts degree in liberal arts and sciences from Florida State College at Jacksonville, followed by a Bachelor of Science degree in health sciences and a Master of Arts in international relations and conflict resolution from American Military University.[5]
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Military service
From 1999 to 2003, Mills served in the United States Army, where he was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. He took part in Operation Allied Force during the Kosovo War in 1999. Mills was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and received the Bronze Star Medal for saving the lives of two fellow soldiers and other acts.[2] In 2025, an investigative news report raised questions about the award. One of the two men who had allegedly received life-saving care from Mills under enemy fire said his injuries had not been life-threatening and he and the helicopter pilot did not remember Mills being there; the sergeant whom Mills had allegedly rescued from an enemy insurgent said that the incident did not happen.[6]
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Business career
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From 2005 to 2009, he was a military contractor for DynCorp, working overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan,[7] before working as a maritime security specialist and anti-piracy adviser for Special Tactical Services.[citation needed] He then worked for federal contractors Chemonics International and Pax Mondial Ltd.[7] and as a senior risk manager at Management Systems International.[citation needed]
In 2014, Mills co-founded PACEM Solutions International LLC, a risk management and consulting firm. The following year, he co-founded PACEM Defense, a private security company.[8] In 2015, the United States Department of Defense facilitated a $228 million arms deal between PACEM and the government of Iraq. As of 2023, PACEM is indebted $48 million to a Canadian lender and has been forced to close its munitions plant twice by the Florida Department of Financial Services for failing to pay workers' compensation insurance premiums.[7] He is also co-founder of ALS Less-Lethal Systems, a company that manufactures equipment for military and law enforcement clients.[1]
In December 2020, Mills was appointed to the Defense Business Board, a board established to provide independent advice on best business practices to senior leaders within the Defense Department.[9][10] In February 2021, President Joe Biden ordered Secretary Lloyd Austin to suspend all members of the Pentagon's advisory boards (including the DBB) and to ask that all Trump appointees step down.[11]
U.S. House of Representatives
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Elections
2022
Mills announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida's 7th district in April 2021, challenging incumbent Democratic representative Stephanie Murphy.[12] Murphy's seat was a target for the National Republican Congressional Committee in the 2022 elections, but she announced her retirement in December 2021.[13] Redistricting made the 7th significantly more Republican than its predecessor, cutting out its share of Orlando (including Murphy's home) while adding a slice of increasingly Republican Volusia County.
Mills faced a crowded primary, with his strongest opponent being state representative Anthony Sabatini. Mills won the primary election in August 2022, earning over a third of the vote and beating Sabatini by over 10,000 votes.[14] Mills defeated Democratic nominee Karen Green in the November general election with 58.5% of the vote.[15]
Evacuation of an American family from Afghanistan
Mills, as a congressional candidate, in September 2021, evacuated a woman and her three children from Afghanistan during the 2021 American withdrawal. Initially, he was going to attempt to perform an airlift, but U.S. Central Command and the State Department denied the request. Instead, he had to evacuate the family by land.[16]
Tenure
Mills handed out commemorative 40 mm grenades stamped with the Republican Party logo to fellow House members as a welcoming gift.[17]
In May 2023, Mills co-sponsored a resolution by Marjorie Taylor Greene to impeach President Joe Biden over his handling of security at the United States-Mexico border.[18] On May 23, 2023, he also co-sponsored Greene's resolutions to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland,[19] FBI director Christopher Wray,[20] Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas,[21] and U.S. attorney for D.C. Matthew M. Graves.[22]
In October 2023, Mills traveled to Israel to help evacuate 77 Americans in the wake of the Hamas October 7 attack.[23]
Mills also helped airlift 10 Americans who were volunteering at an orphanage in Haiti, amidst Haiti's state of crisis. He also criticized Biden's handling of the crisis and similar crises.[24] Later, he helped rescue an additional 13 people.[25]
Syria
In 2023, Mills was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.[26][27]
Following the fall of the Assad regime, Mills and fellow Republican representative Marlin Stutzman became the first American politicians to visit post-Ba'athist Syria. Both met Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa and the country's Christian leaders on April 18, 2025.[28] Mills described the visit, which came as the Trump administration was considering sanctions relief on Syria, as a "tremendous amount of opportunity here to help rebuild the nation but also to help with stabilization across the region."[29]
2024 presidential election
Mills became the fourth representative from Florida to endorse Donald Trump for president in the 2024 presidential election, citing the need for Republican unity following Trump's indictment.[30]
Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023
Mills was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.[31]
Committee assignments
For the 118th Congress:[32]
Ethics investigation
The board of the independent Office of Congressional Ethics investigated inconsistent financial statements in August 2024; their report stated "The OCE found that from January 2023 to present, Pacem Defense/ALS, has been actively contracting with the federal government, securing close to $1,000,000 in federal contracts for munitions and weapons, distributed to prisons across the country...Specifically, since January 9, 2024, 94 contracts have been awarded to entities owned by Rep. Mills."[33]
Mills denied wrongdoing and did not cooperate with the OCE's investigations, refusing to provide tax returns or explain the ownership structure of his companies.[33] On March 27, 2025, the House Ethics Committee announced it would investigate Mills for violating federal laws and House rules that prohibit members of Congress from contracting with the government.[34]
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Personal life
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Mills is Catholic. He is married to Rana Al Saadi, an Iraqi refugee who gained naturalized American citizenship and served in the first Trump administration.[35] Mills has two sons.[36] Mills told Blaze Media in May 2025 that he and Saadi have been "going through divorce proceedings for 2.5 years and have been separated for three years".[37]
Circa November 2021, Mills became involved with Lindsey Langston. She later moved into his Florida rental residence, where she stayed until February 2025. She learned he had another live-in partner after published reports of an assault allegation in Washington, D.C.[38]
Mills has been residing in a luxury Maryland Avenue penthouse with a rent of US$20,833 per month. On January 22, 2025, the property manager provided Mills with a ledger showing Mills had consistently paid his rent late, racking up nearly US$15,000 in late fees over the previous 18 months. By July 2025, Mills faced eviction as he didn't pay more than US$85,000 in rent between March and July.[39]
Alleged assault
On February 21, 2025, the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia announced they were investigating an alleged physical assault of a woman by Mills at his luxury penthouse. Although she listed the same address as her home, the woman was not Mills's wife. The police report describes Mills as her "significant other for over a year."[40][41] According to the police report of the incident, the alleged victim stated that Mills "grabbed her, shoved her, and pushed her out of the door."[41] Mills was not arrested because the alleged victim recanted details of the incident.[42][43]
On February 24, it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police Department sent an arrest warrant for Mills to interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin on February 21, but, for unclear reasons, it was not signed by Martin.[44] This led to MSNBC News Producer Steve Benen speculating that the arrest warrant was not signed because Martin wanted to "go easy on a Republican member of Congress as part of a broader political agenda".[45] Mills has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the matter.[42]
Revenge porn allegations
On August 6, 2025, media outlets reported that Lindsey Langston, a Republican Party of Florida committee member and the current Miss United States, had filed a lawsuit alleging that Mills threatened to release nude videos of her after she ended their relationship and threatened to harm any future romantic partners of hers. Langston told the Columbia County Sheriff's Department that she was in a relationship with Mills from November 2021 until February 2025, ending it after seeing reports of his alleged assault.[46]
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Electoral history
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References
External links
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