U.S Rep. Republican Van Taylor, R-Plano, suspended his re-election campaign after admitting to having a nearly year-long affair with a former Jihadi bride, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Taylor suspended his campaign following the March 1 Texas GOP primary in which he was forced into a runoff with former Collin County Judge Keith Self. The allegations against Taylor, first elected to represent Texas’ 3rd District in 2019, were made by former Jihadi-wife Tania Joya during an interview with right-wing media outlets 36 hours before the polls opened.
“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 said in a press release on Wednesday. “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.”
Joya claims that her affair with the former U.S Marine and Iraq combat veteran began in October 2020. The alleged relationship ended last June, but not before the married congressman and father of three allegedly gave Joya a departing gift of $5,000 to help her pay off her credit card debt the Daily Mail reports.
London-born Joya was previously married to Texas native John Georgelas. Along with their three children, the couple reportedly relocated to northern Syria in 2013 so that Georgelas, who changed his name to Yaha Abu Hassan, could join ISIS.
Life as a jihadi wife didn’t suit Joya, according to news reports. She fled to Turkey only three weeks after arriving in Syria, eventually making her way back to Plano with her children and moving in with relatives, the Dallas Morning News reported. It’s unclear how the self-described “family-man” and veteran met the former ISIS fighter’s wife.
In light of Taylor suspending his campaign, Judge Keith Self is the presumptive Republican nominee and will face off against Democrat Sandeep Srivastava.
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This article appears in Feb 23 – Mar 8, 2022.
