On Tuesday, Congressman Troy Nehls (R-Texas) posted an alarming thread on Twitter.
BREAKING The @CapitolPolice Intelligence Division investigated my office illegally and one of my staffers caught them in the act.
On November 20th, 2021, Capitol Police entered my office without my knowledge and photographed confidential legislative products protected by the Speech and Debate clause enshrined in the Constitution, Article 1 Section 6.
Two days later on Monday November 22, 2021 (Thanksgiving week), three intelligence officers attempted to enter my office while the House was in recess.
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.
@CapitolPolice never informed myself or senior level staff of their investigation and the reasons are clear.
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?
Maybe it is because I have been a vocal critic of @SpeakerPelosi, the @January6thCmte, and @CapitolPolice leadership about their handling of January 6th, the death of Ashli Babbitt and the subsequent SHAM investigation.
🚨BREAKING🚨
The @CapitolPolice Intelligence Division investigated my office illegally and one of my staffers caught them in the act.
Thread🧵
— Congressman Troy Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) February 8, 2022
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger told the agency’s side of the story by claiming that a “vigilant officer” performing normal weekend rounds noticed that Nehls’s office door had been left wide open. “If a Member’s office is left open and unsecured, without anyone inside the office, USCP officers are directed to document that and secure the office to ensure nobody can wander in and steal or do anything else nefarious,” he explained.
Once inside the office, the officer noticed a whiteboard that contained “suspicious writings mentioning body armor,” which he photographed and passed along to USCP analysts. Manger said that the following Monday, “USCP personnel personally followed up with the Congressman’s staff and determined no investigation or further action of any kind was needed.”
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From a law enforcement point of view, Manger’s story is almost credible — if it’s true that the office door had been left wide open. But the story breaks down if they were in fact “dressed like construction workers” and “attempted to enter” the office even though the House was in recess.
“This goes much deeper than an unethical entry into my office by Capitol police,” said Congressman Nehls.
“This is a violation of Members’ right to speech and debate, as well as a 4th amendment violation. Could you imagine leaving your front door open and police officers enter your private home, take pictures of the inside, and then open an investigation based on those pictures?” Nehls asked in a statement.
“After communicating with Chief Manger, it became clear that my office was under investigation and surveillance by USCP. We were the ‘threat.’” Nehls added, “If Capitol Police had spent this much time investigating January 6th as they did investigating my private legislative materials, January 6th would not have happened.”
The statement claims Nehls asked the USCP inspector general to investigate the incident, and Manger has agreed.
“While I am confident in our methods, I am asking the USCP Office of the Inspector General to review the USCP’s programs related to these security assessments to assure both this Committee, the Congress as a whole, and the public that these processes are legal, necessary, and appropriate,” Manger assured Republican lawmakers.
The incident occurs against a backdrop of growing distrust of Capitol Police intelligence operations. A January Politico article claimed that the department had begun improperly investigating Republican lawmakers as well as their staff and even private citizens with whom they meet. Using the Jan. 6 riot as justification, the USCP has become increasingly politicized, according to sources within the department. And a year ago, in Feb. 2021, over 90% of the rank and file voted that they had no confidence in the department’s top leadership. (At that time, Yogananda Pittman was acting chief.)
Let’s hope that the USCP Inspector General’s office is staffed with professionals and patriots. If the investigation is run by yet another partisan swamp comrade, we can already guess what the conclusion will be.
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