www.theblaze.com
Going rogue? FBI agent gathered information from private citizens questioning Rep. Cory Mills’ record
A Florida-based FBI special agent interviewed three sources who contributed to recent Blaze News investigative stories on U.S. Rep. Cory L. Mills (Fla.), prying for details on what they know about Mills, collecting names of other people investigating Mills, and even asking one source to become a paid FBI informant.
Blaze News asked the FBI if the bureau had opened an investigation into Blaze News' story sources or was using law enforcement resources to learn the scope of planned news coverage. Blaze News has been probing the growing questions swirling around Mills, 44, a second-term Republican representing Florida’s 7th Congressional District.
The FBI told Blaze News it would investigate to determine whether this purported investigation is an official FBI case or if something else is going on.
“We are not aware of the conduct in question but will review the matter immediately,” an FBI spokesperson told Blaze News in a statement May 16. “As always, any unethical behavior will be addressed swiftly and appropriately.”
The spokesperson added, “Senior leadership was made aware of the situation.”
The rare public statement is notable, as the FBI does not usually comment on such cases.
Suspicious interviews
Special Agent Shay D. Talley-Bradley of the FBI’s Orlando Resident Agency conducted multiple interviews with the three Blaze News sources via telephone, two at an area Florida Starbucks, and one face-to-face interview at the home of a news source, Blaze News has learned.
Screenshot of City of Ocoee, Florida, website promoting an event with Talley-Bradley
Talley-Bradley initially told the sources that the FBI was conducting a stolen-valor investigation into Mills, a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division who has been accused of lying about his background and falsely claiming to have been an elite Army Ranger.
Later, Talley-Bradley changed the story, saying the investigation now focused on Mills’ business dealings, multiple sources told Blaze News. Mills founded two companies active in overseas arms trading and owns a third that sells “less lethal” munitions for law enforcement and military applications.
Blaze News approached Talley-Bradley outside an event in Ocoee, Florida, and asked about Cory Mills and her alleged investigation. She repeatedly said she had "no idea" what we were "talking about."
Although several of the sources provided Talley-Bradley with contact information for at least five individuals with direct knowledge of Mills’ military service and his work for a State Department security contractor, they said Talley-Bradley never followed up or conducted interviews with four of those people.
'An agent found to be operating outside the scope of their assigned duties would be open to an investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility.'
Talley-Bradley might have violated FBI protocols in the interviews by apparently not recording phone calls for the purpose of creating investigative documents known as Form 302s, not taking notes during the interviews, visiting a source’s home with no other agent present, often communicating via text, and telling sources not to send documents to her official FBI email.
The agent’s frequent queries and unusual behavior led two Blaze News sources to suspect that they were the real targets of the FBI probe. At one point in the Blaze News investigation, one of the sources, fearful of being targeted, asked to withdraw information he provided to Blaze News for a series of stories that began May 7.
Steve Friend, a former FBI special agent in the bureau’s Daytona Beach Resident Agency, said any investigation targeting a member of Congress would be a “Sensitive Investigative Matter,” requiring several layers of approval at the highest levels of the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice.
“This is a SIM. No way phone and email interviews would be done,” Friend told Blaze News. “They are allowed, but only in rare situations. In-person would be attempted. And never text messages.”
While it’s not unusual for FBI agents to conduct a more casual interview without recording or taking notes, several former FBI special agents told Blaze News, if the investigation involves a congressman, more stringent rules apply.
Frederick W. Humphries II, a retired former supervisory special agent of the FBI, told Blaze News, “An agent found to be operating outside the scope of their assigned duties would be open to an investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility. Upon OPR review, recommendations can range from a formal letter of censure, to suspension without pay, to removal from the rolls of the FBI.”
Humphries said that in 2017, FBI agents were told to stop investigating stolen-valor complaints unless they involved allegations that stolen valor was used as a tool in fundraising fraud.
In 2013, 18 U.S. Code § 704 was amended to punish those who fraudulently hold themselves out as recipients of military decorations or medals “with the intent to obtain money, property or other tangible benefit.” The crime is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of one year in jail.
Blaze News investigation
Mills has come under recent scrutiny for his claims about his military service, his employment as a security contractor in Iraq, his religious faith, and his year-long relationship with an Iranian-American activist while still married, among other issues.
The investigation started when BlazeTV host Jill Savage, also an active member of Blaze News’ investigative team, started looking into Mills’ record following reports of a domestic disturbance call by his girlfriend at his house in February 2025. This led to confirmation of Mills’ curious marriage certificate and reports of stolen valor.
RELATED: GOP Rep. Cory Mills explains why he was married by a radical Islamic cleric
Jill Savage discusses the origin of the Cory Mills story on "Blaze News: The Mandate."
Blaze News initially reported on Mills’ 2014 marriage to Rana Al Saadi that took place at the terror-tied Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia, before they started an international arms business together.
In a 50-minute call with Blaze News, Mills said he has always been Christian and went forward with the marriage in a mosque to ensure that his wife would be safe visiting a dying relative in Iraq.
A follow-up article from Blaze News reported that five people have now claimed that Mills told them directly that he converted to Islam around the time of his marriage.
These former co-workers and fellow veterans accused Mills of stolen valor, saying Mills falsely claimed to be an Army Ranger medic and an experienced military sniper.
In March, Savage listened to a “Green Beret Chronicles” podcast on Mills featuring William Kern, a Houston-based former U.S. Marine counter-sniper who worked with Mills at DynCorp carrying out protective missions in Iraq, and Bobby Oller, a former 82nd Airborne paratrooper, squad leader, and master gunner who served in Afghanistan and as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After she reached out to them for Blaze News, she and the investigative team began to contact others.
These former co-workers and fellow veterans accused Mills of stolen valor, saying Mills falsely claimed to be an Army Ranger medic and an experienced military sniper. They also said Mills’ nomination form for a Bronze Star medal contained false information. Mills wrongly claimed to have been “blown up” twice while working for security contractor DynCorp in the Middle East, multiple sources told Blaze News.
In his call with Blaze News, Mills denied the accusations of stolen valor. When asked why he thought these accusations were being made by others who were there, he said: “They’re entitled to have a different recollection. And some of them, obviously, I didn’t have a great relationship with, and I’m sure some are probably disgruntled.”
He also accused Blaze News of writing a hit piece and threatened legal action.
RELATED: Stolen valor? Veterans dispute Cory Mills’ record: 'He fooled a lot of us
Jill Savage and Peter Gietl discuss the Cory Mills ‘stolen valor’ story on "Blaze News: The Mandate."
Official Mills investigation?
Kern said he had become suspicious of Mills’ claims about his military record and security work. Kern contacted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in August 2024 to report what he believed were instances of stolen valor.
William Kern. Photo given to Blaze News
Kern said FDLE Inspector Richard Gibbs encouraged him to report the information to the FBI and the House Committee on Ethics, which opened an investigation on Mills during the 118th Congress that was extended into the current 119th Congress. The congressional probe is not related to the accusations of stolen valor.
A Florida law that will take effect July 1 prohibits candidates, elected public officers, appointed representatives, and public employees “from knowingly making certain fraudulent representations relating to military service.” A violation of that law will be a third-degree felony.
On Aug. 11, 2024, Kern called the FBI’s national intake hotline and left a message, asking for a call-back to report Mills as a case of stolen valor. Kern said he never got a reply.
That same day, Kern received an anonymous phone text from a spoofed Washington, D.C., number suggesting that he could be the target of an investigation for a visit he made to Cambodia.
“We are investigating links to you and others you worked with, some who are currently living abroad, to sex/human exploitation in many countries during your time working for a U.S. contractor,” the message read. “Cambodia and other information has been mentioned in messages.”
Screenshot obtained by Blaze News
Months later, Kern got a voicemail, a text, and an email from Talley-Bradley. He told Blaze News that the agent’s messages said she was contacting him about Mills. Kern said he assumed this was related to his August 2024 call to the FBI and his interaction with the FDLE agent.
During a 90-minute phone call in late November 2024, Talley-Bradley told Kern she was “referred” onto the case and asked what he knew about Mills, he told Blaze News. He said he gave her information about the doubts surrounding Mills’ military record and work as a security contractor for the State Department. The agent did not indicate that she was recording the interview, he said.
'If you are not an actual FBI agent, I will be submitting all of these text messages as evidence of a federal crime.'
Over the following months, Kern said, he had several text exchanges with Talley-Bradley. In late March, Kern had to make a business trip to Orlando and arranged a meeting with Talley-Bradley. Kern said he added a day on each end of his business trip in order to have a face-to-face meeting with Talley-Bradley.
He said after agreeing to meet, Talley-Bradley said she had to leave town. She offered to have him meet instead with someone she said was a Department of Defense investigator named Mike Scherach.
“I am going to hand off the interview to my co-case agent,” Talley-Bradley texted, according to screenshots provided to Blaze News by Kern. “His name is Mike Scherach, he is with Department of Defense … we have been working this case jointly. Please expect to hear from him in the coming days.”
Kern said he was never contacted by Scherach. Talley-Bradley told him the DOD investigator also had to leave town, Kern said, so there would be no face-to-face meeting.
Growing more suspicious about Talley-Bradley and the purported investigation, Kern asked the agent to confirm that she really works for the FBI.
“At this point I don’t know what else to do other than go to the FBI here in Houston to confirm your identity,” Kern wrote in a text. “If you are not an actual FBI agent, I will be submitting all of these text messages as evidence of a federal crime.”
Talley-Bradley replied with the phone number for the FBI’s Tampa division and suggested that he call and ask if she is an agent in the Orlando Resident Agency.
Kern said he began to suspect that Talley-Bradley was not investigating Mills at all, but perhaps that he himself was the target. He contacted the FBI to confirm that Talley-Bradley was actually an FBI special agent. A supervisory special agent did call Kern back, but Kern was unavailable at the time and did not return the call, he said.
“I knew this was all bulls**t on about May 8, when I learned Shay was not contacting the most important names we’d given her,” Kern said, “the prime sources on the stolen valor issue.”
Kern said he was also suspicious that “no local agent ever came out to interview me and do an official, recorded interview. Nothing seemed normal to me.”
Names given to Talley-Bradley as possible sources for her investigation included Max Woodside, Jesse Parks, Scott Kempkins, and Bobby Oller. All but Oller told Blaze News they never received communication from Talley-Bradley. The men were also news sources for Blaze News' series on Mills.
Oller said he started investigating Mills for possible stolen valor in April 2024.
Bobby Oller. Photo given to Blaze News
Oller, who knew Kern from working at DynCorp, said Kern told him the FBI would reach out to him about Mills’ alleged stolen valor. When Oller didn’t hear anything from the FBI, he emailed Talley-Bradley on April 18, 2025, to report what he knew. The agent suddenly didn’t seem interested in the topic of stolen valor, he said.
Oller spoke via phone with Talley-Bradley on May 1. When Oller dove into the stolen-valor details, he said Talley-Bradley stopped him. “Whoa, this is a lot. I can’t do all this right now,” Oller quoted her as saying. “Hold tight, and keep doing what you’re doing.”
Oller said Talley-Bradley then asked him about his background and whether he was some kind of investigator. “No, I’m a diesel mechanic,” Oller said he told her. She said she would call him back in a week or so. That never happened.
The interactions left Oller worried. “I now had the impression she was investigating me,” he told Blaze News.
Jade A. Murray, owner and operator of CoryMillsWatch.com, a website dedicated to investigating Mills, said Talley-Bradley showed up on her doorstep on Dec. 3, 2024, asking about Mills for a stolen-valor investigation. Talley-Bradley showed her badge and FBI credentials, Murray said. The two stood on the front porch and spoke for a few minutes, she said.
Jade Murray. Photo given to Blaze News
Murray, of Altamonte Springs, Florida, said she met with Talley-Bradley at a local Starbucks on Dec. 20, 2024, and again on April 11, 2025. During the second Starbucks meeting, Murray said, the agent asked about others who had provided information to her about Mills.
Talley-Bradley told her that because Mills had “plausible deniability” and there wasn’t enough “there there” on the stolen-valor claims, the FBI was dropping that investigative angle.
Now the agent said she wanted to talk about Mills’ business dealings, Murray said. The agent asked if Murray would become a paid undercover FBI informant to investigate “another lady.” Murray said she enthusiastically agreed but never learned the identity of the target.
“I was just happy something was being done,” Murray told Blaze News.
'I now had to assume that Cory Mills could have known that I was working this story.'
Murray said Talley-Bradley did not record any of their conversations or even take written notes. “She was just sipping her coffee,” Murray said. “It was very casual.”
Murray asked for the agent’s email address so she could send documents about Mills from her own stolen-valor investigations. Talley-Bradley told Murray she didn’t want to receive any documents via email and she should “let her know about any updates to the [Cory Mills] website.”
On March 31, Kern told Jill Savage — a BlazeTV anchor and part of the Blaze News team investigating Mills — that he would forward her contact information to Talley-Bradley. “I think the work and research you have done would be helpful to them [at the FBI],” Kern said. Savage told Kern she was willing to speak with Talley-Bradley, since “there are a lot of things that do not add up when it comes to Mills, so I was glad to hear someone was looking into this.”
Twelve days later, Talley-Bradley tried to recruit Murray as an undercover paid informant to help investigate “another lady,” according to Murray. The only other woman among the sources provided to Talley-Bradley was Savage.
“When I heard this, my first thought was that I now had to assume that Cory Mills could have known that I was working this story since March 31 when Kern told the agent about me,” Savage said. “Because when I heard how these interviews were being conducted, I thought something was not right — and there was a real possibility that it was an off-books investigation.”
Jill Savage begins work on the Cory Mills investigation.
When asked if she thought she could have been the “lady” Talley-Bradley had in mind, Savage said, “Yes, that could have referred to me. Because why would Agent Talley-Bradley need to change her approach? Why would she have to go through someone else? Was it because she knew she couldn’t directly approach a journalist?”
Blaze News editor in chief Matthew Peterson said, “If an FBI agent is falsely presenting themselves to private citizens as if they are investigating a case for the FBI, when in fact they are not, that agent should lose their job. What makes this apparent investigation into our sources even worse is that it interfered with private citizens who are simply questioning the record of a member of Congress.”
“We need to know why this agent was gathering this information and for what purpose. We do not have enough evidence yet to answer these questions. If this was not an official FBI investigation, was she investigating a member of Congress on her own or was she actually gathering information on everyone researching him and trying to speak out about his record?”
Cory Mills was asked questions about and for comment on this story, but he did not reply.
Jill Savage, Matthew Peterson, and Peter Gietl contributed to this story.
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