Justice Division to Examine Muslim Improvement in Texas, Cornyn Says

The Justice Division has opened an investigation right into a deliberate housing improvement outdoors of Dallas that may have a mosque at its middle, Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, stated on Friday.

Mr. Cornyn, who will face Texas’s hard-right legal professional common, Ken Paxton, subsequent 12 months in what might be a heated Republican major contest for his personal Senate seat, is the most recent Texas Republican to problem the event within the rural city of Josephine, Texas.

The venture is backed by members of the East Plano Islamic Middle, a mosque in Plano, about 20 miles from Josephine, and has drawn intense scrutiny from Republicans, together with Gov. Greg Abbott, who’ve accused the planners of looking for to create an solely Muslim group and to impose Islamic regulation on residents.

In current months, Mr. Abbott has directed a number of state companies to analyze the event, referred to as EPIC Metropolis, suggesting it might have violated honest housing and monetary legal guidelines, and that the Islamic middle had performed unlawful funerals in its mosque.

Mr. Paxton has additionally initiated a felony investigation.

Now Mr. Cornyn has requested a federal investigation. Mr. Cornyn desires the Justice Division to analyze whether or not the Muslim builders engaged in spiritual discrimination. A spokesman for the Justice Division didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

“Spiritual discrimination and Sharia Regulation don’t have any house in Texas,” Mr. Cornyn wrote on social media on Friday. “Any violations of federal regulation have to be swiftly prosecuted.”

A lawyer for the East Plano Islamic Middle, or EPIC, denied any wrongdoing by the mosque or these elevating cash for the event. Building has not begun, and no permits to start constructing have been issued.

“EPIC has executed nothing unlawful and we are going to cooperate absolutely with any and all investigations,” stated the lawyer, Dan Cogdell, in an announcement. “Texans could be much better served by the nice senator fixing actual issues and as an alternative of twisting himself right into a pretzel over imaginary ones.”

Mr. Paxton has made clear he’ll attempt to unseat Mr. Cornyn by courting hard-right voters. Mr. Cornyn has responded by underscoring his conservative credentials and aligning himself with President Trump.