Politics
GOP Congressman Sues Capitol Police Over Post-January 6 Search
U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) has filed a lawsuit seeking $2.5 million in damages after an unannounced Capitol Police officer entered his office to conduct a search related to the January 6 Capitol protests.
The lawsuit stems from a November, 2021 incident in which an officer entered Nehls’ over the Thanksgiving break, leaving the congressman to find the door to his office wide open upon return.
The officer claimed he saw a white board with “suspicious writings mentioning body armor with an outline of the Rayburn Building next to the Longworth building with an ‘x’ marked” on the map, at which point he forwarded the information to his supervisors. Three officers with the USCP’s Intelligence Operations Section later visited Nehls’ office and asked about the white board.
“Congressman Nehls was later informed by his staff of the unauthorized entry of his office, the photographing of his whiteboard, and the questioning of his staff about the contents of his writings on the whiteboard. He was appalled and outraged by the invasion of his privacy, and he regarded the actions of the Capitol Police to be a threat to the liberties of the people of his district and the nation as a whole,” Nehls wrote.
“Capitol Police treated the matter as criminal in nature, impairing the Congressman’s reputation. He has suffered mental and emotional distress, anxiety, and humiliation,” he added.
Nehls’ suit also disputes a number of claims made by the Capitol Police officer, including the assertion that the door was already open. He further argues that a “reasonable” officer would have known that he was simply brainstorming about upcoming legislation.
In addition, Nehls accused the USCP of photographing confidential legislative products protected by the Speech and Debate clause enshrined in the Constitution, Article 1 Section 6
Rep. Nehls takes questions on then-President-elect Trump’s cabinet nominees on November 14, 2024
In 2022, the inspector general for the U.S. Capitol Police opened a formal investigation into whether the law enforcement agency had been inappropriately surveilling elected members of Congress, their staff, and visitors to their offices
According to a report from Politico at the time, the USCP intelligence unit had been compiling information on individuals who meet with lawmakers. Among those who have been subject to new Capitol Police scrutiny are Congressional staffers, three separate sources told the outlet on condition of anonymity.
Most of those surveilled by the UCSP have not committed or been accused of a crime, but the agency argued the measures were ‘necessary’ by citing the 2021 U.S. Capitol protests, which the UCSP refers to as an “insurrection.”
The inspector general’s report “largely” found no fault with the officer, though it did encourage the agency to update its policies for finding open doors that “strikes the proper balance of protecting congressional representatives and their staff from physical outside threats while simultaneously protecting their legislative proposals and work product from possibly inappropriate photography, scrutiny, and questioning by USCP employees.”
The USCP defended its actions at the time in a statement to Politico.
“The U.S. Representative was never under criminal investigation. His staff was never under criminal investigation. The Inspector General’s report supports these conclusions,” the USCP said of the report. “Spreading unfounded conspiracy theories in the press undermines the work our brave men and women do every day to protect the Members of Congress, the Capitol Complex, and the legislative process.”
In a press release announcing the suit, Nehls argued that the matter is far more important than any personal violation of his rights. “This goes much deeper than an unethical entry into my office by Capitol police. This is a violation of Members’ right to speech and debate, as well as a 4th amendment violation,” the congressman wrote.
The case is pending before the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas.
