It’s not clear how long before Rep. Rich McCormick filed for divorce that he began his relationship with Rep. Beth Van Duyne.
But flirtatious moments where the pair locked eyes during a news conference where she checked him out as he took to the microphone can be seen in a clip from from nearly a year ago.
A group of members of the Republican Study Committee were unveiling their committee’s budget for fiscal year 2024 to reporters on June 14, 2023.
Van Duyne, R-Texas, took the stage first, behind committee chair Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla. She surveyed the room before her eyes settled on McCormick, R-Ga.
His eyes widened and he smiled at her before they both looked forward.
McCormick’s, left, eyes get wide and he smiles at his now-girlfriend, blonde at center
In another moment, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., called McCormick up to the microphone to speak, just in front of Van Duyne.
She checked him out in an up-down glance as he walked to speak to the crowd in front of her.
The pair revealed they are dating late last week after DailyMail.com first reported McCormick had filed for divorce, and their colleagues had seen them holding hands just off the House floor and under the table at RSC lunches.
Footage from the March 7 State of the Union address shows McCormick stroking Van Duyne’s arm, and sources say this is commonplace for the seemingly smitten pair.
They’ve been caught arriving at and leaving late night events together, and multiple eyewitnesses have seen the pair holding hands just off the House floor.
McCormick, a year and a half into his first congressional term, filed for divorce from his oncologist wife of 12 years, Dr. Debra Miller, on May 3. A mutual restraining order was also filed, DailyMail.com reported on Thursday.
McCormick and Miller, his second wife, share seven children and live in Suwanee, Georgia.
Van Duyne checks out McCormick as he walks to the mic
Miller, meanwhile, has practiced medicine for over 30 years. With her her long, blonde locks it’s hard to miss the similarities between her and Van Duyne.
‘Rich clearly has a type,’ said one source close to the congressman.
When approached about the reasoning for the divorce, Miller texted DailyMail.com: ‘I’m sure that he will not be forthcoming.’
‘Ask Rich and his colleague,’ Miller said when asked if the divorce involved an affair.
Both Van Duyne and McCormick claim he has been separated from his wife for ‘quite some time.’
McCormick’s header on X. Pictured with wife
But he’s posted her a handful of times over the past year, and a photo of him and his wife holding hands is still used as the banner photo for his X account.
‘Happy birthday Debra! More beautiful every year,’ McCormick posted on May 27, 2023, weeks before the RSC news conference.
Miller was featured in a Father’s Day post on June 18 and a post-church photo on August 27, as well as a Christmas photo at a Toys for Tots event in December.
McCormick’s Facebook account says the pair were married on August 16, 2011.
McCormick spent over 20 years as a pilot in both the Marine Corps and the Navy and was also an emergency room physician in Georgia’s Gwinnett Medical Center.
He is in his first term in Congress, having joined in January 2023. He ran unsuccessfully for the Georgia’s 7th District in 2020 against Democrat Carolyn Bordeaux.
Van Duyne took office two years earlier in 2021. As a single mother, she was mayor of Irving, Texas from 2011 to 2017 and also served in the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Trump administration.
Van Duyne told DailyMail.com Friday that Rich and his wife are both ‘incredible people’ and his marriage has been ‘over for quite some time.’
‘His marriage has been over for quite some time as I understand it, he’s filed for divorce.’
Facebook photo of Miller and McCormick posted in 2016
Photo of Miller and McCormick posted in 2009
‘I’m single. We’re both parents of adult children and empty nesters. We are happily engaged in a relationship and beyond that it’s a personal issue.’
Shortly after, McCormick confirmed his relationship with Van Duyne through a spokesperson.
One member also disclosed that they witnessed Rich ‘grab the small of her back’ on the House floor during votes.
Another two eyewitnesses say they have seen he and Van Duyne holding hands, with one witnessing it as the pair were leaving votes.
A third witness told DailyMail.com they had seen the female colleague holding on to the arm of McCormick while walking out of the Longworth Office building late at night.
Asked about the cozy behavior and the divorce, a McCormick spokesperson told DailyMail.com: ‘Congressman McCormick and Dr. Miller have been separated for quite some time. He has kept that private and will continue to keep his personal life out of the media spotlight.’
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .