The Capitol Police department is about to confront its top lawyer for his refusal to submit to a background check.
John Caulfield says that he could “easily” pass a background check, but he refuses to submit to one as a matter of principle.
“It’s essentially a change in the condition of my job after 20-plus years,” he told The Examiner. “And I don’t believe there’s any demonstrated need for it.”
Caulfield is the general counsel to the Capitol Police. His job is to give legal advice to a 1,300-member police agency charged with protecting the seat of government from terrorism.
General counsel since 1985, Caulfield has been able to refuse a background check in part because the law that created his job makes him an employee of the House and not of the Capitol Police, whose staff are required to undergo background checks.
That may change soon. An appropriations bill pending in Congress would make the general counsel an employee of the Capitol Police.
The legislation was drafted at the urging of outgoing Senate sergeant-at-arms William Pickle. Pickle said the legislation is not directed at Caulfield personally, but making the general counsel a police employee is in line with “best practices.”
“John’s a good lawyer,” Pickle told The Examiner. “But I believe in good management.”
The change is also supported by Pickle’s designated successor, Terrance Gainer. Gainer is the former chief of the Capitol Police.
“The police chief needs a counsel who can hear all the classified information,” said former Capitol Police chief Terrance Gainer.
Caulfield acknowledged that he has been excluded from security briefings because of his refusal to take a background check. But he said it hasn’t affected his work. He was “instrumental” in the Capitol Police’s response to the anthrax attacks in 2001, Caulfield said.
Some members of Congress aren’t so sure.
“Maybe in 1986 the Capitol Police general counsel wasn’t a position that required a background check, but 2006 is a different story,” said David Marin, spokesman for Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va. “And anyone who refuses to cooperate with a background check ought to get a very thorough investigation indeed.”
Davis is the outgoing chair of the House Government Reform Committee.
Andy Maybo is the chair of the Capitol Police union. He said it’s hypocritical of Caulfield — who has supervised police discipline — to refuse a background check.
“It is imperative that all employees of Capitol Police — civilian and sworn — are held to the same standards,” he said.
Wilson “Bill” Livingood, the sergeant-at-arms of the House, defended Caulfield. Livingood said he has known for “several years” that Caulfield had not submitted to a background check.
“John Caulfield has been and continues to be an excellent counsel. We rely on his judgment very heavily,” Livingood said.
Nonetheless, the matter has been referred to the Capitol Police board for action, Livingood said. Livingood and Pickle are members of that panel.
