Texas GOP Rep. Van Taylor withdrew from the runoff election on Wednesday after admitting to an affair with an ‘ISIS bride.’
Taylor, 49, is married with three daughters and was elected to Congress in 2018.
The Texas Republican was forced to withdraw after news broke of his extramarital affair with a woman who was married to a US-born ISIS fighter.
“About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world,” Taylor wrote in an email to supporters on Wednesday, according to the Texas Tribune. “I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life. I want to apologize for the pain I have caused with my indiscretion, most of all to my wife Anne and our three daughters.”
Earlier this week Breitbart News exclusively reported Van Taylor “allegedly paid $5,000 in hush money to an ‘ISIS bride’ he was engaged in an affair with during his time in Congress.”
According to documents ‘ISIS bride’ Tania Joya shared with Breitbart News, Taylor was engaged in a raunchy sexual escapade with Joya that allegedly lasted from November 2020 to June 2021 — during which time she says Taylor paid her $5,000.
The payment, she says, was made in cash given to her by the congressman. Joya showed Breitbart News banking records that demonstrate she made a $5,000 deposit into her account when she says the affair occurred.
Joya told Breitbart News she first met Taylor in August of 2019, when she was looking to get involved with the Preventing Violent Extremism program in the district’s school system; Joya thought the congressman might have connections to facilitate her involvement.
Rep. Van Taylor was one of the 35 Republicans who voted in favor of a special committee to investigate the January 6 Capitol protest, Fox News reported.
Meanwhile, he was having an affair with an ‘ISIS bride.’