U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, who represents Florida’s 7th Congressional District — which includes all of Seminole County, among other parts of Central Florida — made national headlines in February after it was revealed he was being investigated for an alleged assault in Washington D.C.
United States Congressman Cory Mills represents Seminole County
The alleged incident reportedly occurred at the 44-year-old Mills’ D.C. penthouse on Feb. 20. No arrests were made. Sarah Raviani, the alleged victim, has since told The Floridian that while she did “involve the authorities” and “the personal matter in question was emotionally charged, there was no physical altercation.”
“Regrettably, the situation has since been misrepresented by reporters,” her statement said.
NBC affiliate News4 Washington reported it had obtained a copy of the initial police report in which a D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officer stated that during a phone call “[the alleged victim] let officers hear Subject 1 [now identified by the MPD as Mills] instruct her to lie about the origin of her bruises.”
A spokesperson for Mills released a statement denying any wrongdoing.
“Law enforcement was asked to resolve a private matter at Congressman Mills’ residence,” the statement said. “Congressman Mills vehemently denies any wrongdoing whatsoever, and is confident any investigation will clear this matter quickly.”
Mills has not been charged, and an official told the Associated Press that the case may not result in charges at all. A spokesperson for Mills released a statement denying any wrongdoing.
In light of the news of the incident, in addition to concerns about federal cuts affecting Oviedo, about half a dozen residents attended the March 3 City Council meeting to speak about the congressman.
“I’m someone who comes from a household of domestic violence, so when there is somebody that we send to Congress that is supposed to represent us and they are not held to account, or something is not allowed to go forward to see what is true and what is not, that is deeply concerning,” Oviedo resident Arian Bryant said.
Others wanted to hear from Mills directly, and voiced frustration at a lack of access to their representative about the alleged incident and other national issues Oviedo faces, such as cuts to federal agencies as a result of the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) efforts.
“Our congressman, Cory Mills, has not been a prominent figure here in Seminole County and he appears unwilling to come and speak to people, so it makes it difficult for us as citizens to find out that kind of information from him directly through a question-and-answer session,” Joseph Vasquez said. “As city officials, y’all are probably best poised to educate us as citizens about either what programs specifically going forward y’all think are potentially in jeopardy, or if there are specific agencies, federal agencies that we’ve gotten money from in the past.”
Deputy Mayor Natalie Teuchert said she has received “a lot of questions” about job losses “due to contracts being frozen at the federal level. On a local basis, we’re talking engineers, architects, people on the Space Coast; these are the bulk of our citizens in Oviedo. That’a a huge industry here and it’s going to affect us locally.”
Another resident, Jillian Morrisini — Teuchert’s sister — asked for the Council to take action.
“I’m requesting that our city formally condemns this [alleged] act of violence and request that Congressman Mills host a town hall in Oviedo to answer to his constituents,” she said.
In response to the public comments, City Manager Bryan Cobb said the city will reach out to formally request a town hall with Mills.
“Something that perhaps we should do on that is to make clear that we would like the city to participate in helping moderate it so we can make sure it’s an inclusive environment that, even questions that are potentially difficult questions, that there’s space for those to be included,” Mayor Megan Sladek said.
OCN has reached out to Mills’ Washington D.C. and Lake Mary offices for comment, but has not heard back at time of publication.
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