A romantic relationship between U.S. Congressman Van Taylor and the widow of an ISIS member has sparked a major scandal in the United States, particularly after he publicly admitted to it and withdrew his candidacy from the Republican primaries in Texas. Taylor acknowledged committing a "grave mistake that caused deep hurt and pain to those he loves in this world," according to an email he sent to his supporters, as reported by Axios.
The situation began when Tanya Joya, the widow of an ISIS member, contacted one of Taylor's opponents in the primary, Susan Harp, to share details of the affair. She revealed that she met Taylor while working to help rehabilitate extremists from October 2020 to June 2021.
She claimed she did not realize that the primary was just five days away when she reached out to Harp, mentioning that she was disturbed to see Taylor's face on billboards while driving. Tanya explained that her motivation for contacting Susan Harp was to embarrass Taylor into resigning and withdrawing his candidacy, especially since his campaign website described him as a "family man" and featured a prominent picture of him with his wife Ann and their three daughters.
Van Taylor is a former officer and American politician, born on August 1, 1972, in Dallas, Texas, and he has been active in the Republican party. His affair was made public just hours after he finished the five-way primary with 49% of the votes.
It is now likely that former Collin County Judge Keith Self, who placed second, will be the next congressman from Texas' third district. Notably, Tanya Joya grew up outside London and was married to an ISIS member named Yahya for ten years. They lived for a time in Egypt but were forced to flee following the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood-led government in 2013, then headed to Gaziantep, Turkey, where Arabic is spoken and her husband could find work.
