Fuming GOP rep accuses Capitol Police of ‘illegally’ investigating his office, says staffer ‘caught them in the act’

Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE

Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) claimed Tuesday that the United States Capitol Police “illegally” entered his office twice during Thanksgiving week while conducting an alleged investigation and one of his staffers caught them in the act.

While the officers were there they reportedly photographed sensitive legislative items according to The Daily Caller. Nehl characterized the entries as “illegally” executed and unconstitutional.

“Upon discovering a member of my staff, special agents dressed like construction workers began to question him as to the contents of a photograph taken illegally two days earlier,” he asserted, adding that Capitol Police “never informed myself or senior-level staff of their investigation.”

The congressman insinuated that the investigation came in retaliation for his criticism of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the January 6 Committee, and the Capitol Police itself.

“The @CapitolPolice Intelligence Division investigated my office illegally and one of my staffers caught them in the act,” Nehls tweeted.

“.@CapitolPolice never informed myself or senior level staff of their investigation and the reasons are clear,” he continued. “They had no authority to photograph my office, let alone investigate myself or members of my staff. So, why is the Capitol Police Leadership maliciously investigating me in an attempt to destroy me and my character?”

The Federalist is also reporting, “The inspector general for the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) has opened a formal investigation into whether the law enforcement agency tasked with securing the Capitol has been inappropriately surveilling elected members of Congress, their staff, and visitors to their offices.”

“The opening of the investigation follows news reports and accusations from lawmakers that USCP has overstepped its bounds as it tries to recover from the January 6 riots that tarnished both the Capitol and the reputation of the law enforcement agency that was supposed to keep it safe,” the outlet added.

The photo that was “illegally” taken was evidently of a whiteboard in Nehls’ legislative office detailing various legislative plans being considered by the congressman and his staff. In a formal police report filed several days after the incident occurred, the officer involved wrote that he had been conducting a routine security patrol on Saturday, November 21, and discovered that one of the doors to Nehls’ office was open.

The report claimed that the officer entered the office and discovered a whiteboard that contained “suspicious writings mentioning body armor[.]” The officer then took a photo of the whiteboard, which was given to analysts within USCP. The following Monday, USCP reportedly dispatched three plain-clothed intelligence officers to Nehls’ office and questioned a staffer who was there about the whiteboard and the legislative proposals it contained.

“If Capitol Police leadership had spent as much time preparing for January 6 as they spent investigating my whiteboard, the January 6 riot never would have happened,” Nehls told The Federalist. “When I was a patrol officer responding to a call, I didn’t have the time or authority to go rifling through someone’s personal papers. There are serious 4th Amendment, constitutional issues at play here.”

The former sheriff is part of a Republican contingent looking into the Jan. 6 riot. He was an original member of the Jan. 6 select committee, but Republicans decided not to participate after Pelosi refused to seat Reps. Jim Jordan and Jim Banks. The “shadow” committee is investigating the Capitol Police’s “negligence” in response to the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.

In late October, The Daily Beast reported that Banks sent letters out to a number of government agencies requesting information about the Jan. 6 attack. Many were reportedly the same departments contacted by the Jan. 6 select panel.

In an interview with Axios on Monday, Nehls said the group’s findings would support previous allegations that law enforcement was not adequately prepared to combat the rioters.

Fellow Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert also took to the House floor on Tuesday to announce that the Department of Justice had “examined” congressional mail five months ago.

“We have seen that our mail — we’ve got two mail just a day apart. One came in Sept. 17 stamped by the Department as being received and reviewed and examined, and another from a Christian missionary to me, and it was reviewed by the Department of Justice,” Gohmert charged.

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles