Mike Wolanin | The Republic State Sen. Greg Walker talks about legislation making its way through Indiana Senate during a community forum at Columbus City Hall in Columbus, Ind., Monday, Feb. 24, 2025
Mike Wolanin | The Republic State Sen. Greg Walker talks about legislation making its way through Indiana Senate during a community forum at Columbus City Hall in Columbus, Ind., Monday, Feb. 24, 2025
Indiana State Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, said he turned down an invitation to visit the Oval Office last week and is accusing the White House of violating federal law in its push to pressure Indiana Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Walker, a Republican who has been an outspoken critic of early redistricting, said he was contacted by a White House official on Nov. 17 and was invited to visit President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Nov. 19, the day after the Indiana General Assembly’s Organization Day.

Walker represents Senate District 41 including all of Bartholomew County and part of Johnson County.

The state senator said he declined the invitation and believes it violated the Hatch Act, which restricts certain political activities by federal employees.

Walker said he would have reported the alleged violation to federal authorities “if I thought that there was anyone of integrity in Washington that would follow through on my accusation and actually cause someone to lose their job over it.”

“I refused (the invitation), but the underling who reached out to me is trying to influence the election on my dime,” Walker told The Republic. “That individual works for me. He works for you. He’s on my payroll, he’s on your payroll, and he’s campaigning on company time. That’s a violation of the Hatch Act. He’s a federal employee. He works in the White House. But does anyone care about the rules anymore? Not that I can tell.”

“How does (Trump) have the time to mess a nobody like me with all of the important matters that are to take his attention as the leader of the executive branch in this nation?” Walker also said. “There is no way that he should have time to have a conversation with me about Indiana mapmaking when that’s not his business for starters. But secondly, doesn’t he have anything better to do? I can make a big list of things that are more important for him to focus on.”

The Oval Office invitation came two days before Walker became the sixth GOP senator to be targeted in a swatting incident since Indiana Senate leaders said they were rejecting Trump’s push for congressional redistricting.

The White House’s effort targets Democratic-held districts, aiming to shift them in Republicans’ favor by redrawing their boundaries in hopes of retaining the GOP’s slim majority in the House following the 2024 midterm elections. Indiana normally revises its congressional map once a decade after the census. Currently, Republicans hold seven of Indiana’s nine congressional seats.

Swatting involves making false reports of criminal incidents in an attempt attempting to create a dangerous SWAT response to the residence.

Columbus Police Department spokesman Lt. Skylar Berry said last week that Columbus police were notified of an email that had been sent out reporting a domestic violence shooting incident at Walker’s address, that was forwarded to Columbus police.

The Indiana State Police said last week that it was working with law enforcement, including Columbus police, to investigate “multiple instances” of swatting targeting lawmakers. The agency said it plans to seek criminal prosecution “to the fullest extent allowed by law.”

This past Tuesday, the Indiana Senate reversed course, with Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray (R-Martinsville) saying senators would meet beginning Dec. 8 to “make a final decision on any redistricting proposal sent from the House.”

However, it is still unclear whether Bray will be able cobble together enough votes in the Senate to approve a new map. Walker said he suspects that there is still not enough support in the Senate to redraw the map, saying, “If they’re working that deep down the list to come after a guy like me who came out publicly in August opposed to this, you got to think they still don’t have the numbers.”

Walker said his position on early redistricting will not change, initially telling The Republic in August that it was a “ridiculous” idea that would backfire. On Wednesday, he told The Republic that changing the maps early would be “selling out to political pressure” from the White House.

Walker also turned down an invitation to visit the White House in August.

“I’ll guarantee you this — my opinion will not change,” Walker said. “And having been swatted didn’t convince me that the … right thing to do is to redistrict midterm. So what tactics are you going to use? There’s no leverage to change my mind. I know right from wrong. I was taught as a child the difference between right and wrong, and this is just wrong on so many levels.”

“I was just so disappointed that with all of the serious issues facing our nation, that (early redistricting) is ultimately a political discussion, and it’s the president trying to save his own skin by holding a majority in Congress,” Walker added. “It’s so that he’s not impeached again. That’s all this is about.”
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