A Florida judge has granted a protective order against Republican U.S. Rep. Cory Mills after his former girlfriend alleged that he threatened to release nude photos of her and harm future boyfriends following their breakup.
Circuit Judge Fred Koberlein issued the order Tuesday in Columbia County, barring Mills from contacting the woman or coming within 500 feet of her home or workplace. The order also prohibits him from referring to her on social media and remains in effect through the end of the year. Violating it could result in fines or imprisonment.
The judge’s decision followed a hearing in Lake City, about 60 miles east of Jacksonville, where he concluded that the woman was either a victim of dating violence or reasonably feared becoming one.
Mills, 45, has denied the allegations, calling them “false” and politically motivated. His attorney, John Terhune, and a spokeswoman for the congressman did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The 26-year-old woman told the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office that she began dating Mills in 2021, moving in with him at his New Smyrna Beach home while he commuted between Florida and Washington. She said the relationship ended in February, after which she relocated to Columbia County.
She also said Mills had told her he was separated from his wife when they met and that his divorce was finalized in 2024.
The woman sought the protective order after reports surfaced earlier this year about domestic disturbance allegations involving Mills and another woman described as his girlfriend in Washington, D.C.
Mills was first elected to Congress in 2022 and represents a district stretching from the Orlando area to Daytona Beach.
