“ISIS Bride” Tania Joya exclusively told Breitbart News on Thursday that she divulged her damning affair with Rep. Van Taylor (R-TX) — which torpedoed his political career — because she felt slighted by the congressman after he didn’t “[keep] his promises.”
Initially relaying her intention to disclose the affair late last week, Joya told Breitbart News it was difficult to see Taylor campaigning for public office after being romantically ditched by the congressman. The planted Van Taylor campaign yard signs throughout the district were especially disquieting.
“Van could have kept his promises to help me while I was overwhelmed with problems,” Joya explained about her financial position. “He knew I was scared and my life was falling apart during 2020 and 2021. Van said he cared and wanted to help me, but he never did.”
We only have a few yard signs left! Request your FREE Van Taylor yard sign today at https://t.co/qL6AdNmkIA! pic.twitter.com/sHq6zsrqql
— Van Taylor (@VanTaylorTX) October 20, 2020
“Instead, I lost $8,000 paying for a shitty divorce attorney he recommended. Now I’m losing my house, which is devastating to my children, whom I love,” Joya added. “Van caused me a lot of sadness, which could have been avoided.”
Expressing angst when contemplating if she should come forward, Joya told Breitbart News the decision to out Taylor came down to simple reasoning.
“I did it because I warned Van and Anne that I would go public,” Joya said. “And I kept my word.”
A Breitbart headline for the ages
‘Disturbing and Entirely Unbecoming’: Texas GOP Primary Candidate Rips Rep. Van Taylor for Allegedly Paying ‘ISIS Bride’ to Keep Quiet About Affairhttps://t.co/BP1Fh1UqNw https://t.co/UjsZzuDaqs
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) March 2, 2022
On Wednesday, Taylor only suspended his campaign and acknowledged the affair with Joya after he failed to reach the 50 percent runoff threshold in Tuesday’s Texas primary.
Taylor fell short of avoiding a runoff by about 800 votes – just one day after Breitbart News published its initial report on the affair. Acknowledging the report, Taylor issued a public apology and suspended his campaign.
“About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world. I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life,” he said. “I want to apologize for the pain I have caused with my indiscretion, most of all to my wife Anne and our three daughters.”
Wow. Van Taylor confirms the Monday Breitbart story that he had an affair and is suspending his campaign after getting forced into a runoff last night. https://t.co/0oxPha75W5
— Kirk A. Bado (@kirk_bado) March 2, 2022
Joya, born in London, is a U.K. citizen. At 19 years old in 2003, she met John Thomas Georgelas, an American-born convert to Islam, jihadist, and supporter of the Islamic State. In September 2013, she moved to Syria to marry Georgelas but soon found her relationship abusive, she told Breitbart News.
Upon escape from Georgelas’s grasp, Joya served as an ISIS informant to American authorities, conducting counterterrorism work for three years “so we could drone [Georgelas],” Joya said.
“They will kill you or enslave you. [Muslim fundamentalists] have medieval ideas,” she said.
Joya fled to America eight years ago, where she ran into financial difficulty and met Taylor.
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