Four House members face fines of $5,000 or more for allegedly circumventing metal detectors at entrances to the chamber, including one of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s top lieutenants.
Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina is the first Democrat to be hit with a $5,000 fine since Pelosi established the security measures following the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Clyburn, the third-highest ranking House Democrat, reportedly evaded the manometers after using the men’s room, located near the Speaker’s Lobby, a long hallway room parallel to the floor, during a vote on Tuesday.
The rule penalizes lawmakers $5,000 for violating the security screening and $10,000 for any subsequent offense.
GOHMERT LOSES APPEAL OF FINE FOR BYPASSING HOUSE CHAMBER METAL DETECTOR
Clyburn says he plans to appeal the fine to the House Ethics Committee. His story is similar to that of Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, who says he entered the House floor from one entrance, going through the detector, and exited the floor briefly to use the Speaker’s Lobby restroom.
When Gohmert returned to the floor, a Capitol Police officer attempted to wand him with a security device. Metal detectors were not installed at the entrances of the Speaker’s Lobby at that time.
“I explained to the Capitol Police officer that I had never been required to be screened again from the restroom immediately by the House floor since the metal detectors had been in place at the other doors,” Gohmert argued. “I said they had witnessed me walk the few feet to the men’s room, enter, and take the few steps back. No one ever mentioned or made that a requirement until yesterday.”
Nevertheless, despite Gohmert’s appeal to the House Ethics Committee related to the Feb. 4 fine of $5,000, the Committee “did not agree to the appeal.”
Rep. Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican, plans to appeal his $5,000 metal detector fine to the Ethics Committee, hoping for a better result.
“On April 14, 2021, there was a simple misunderstanding on the House floor after I went through the metal detectors to vote,” Rogers said. “I have filed an appeal with the House Ethics Committee, requesting an opportunity to explain the facts.”
According to a memo from the Capitol Police, the metal detector went off when Rogers entered the chamber that night. An officer, at that point, tried to use a hand wand device.
The memo states Rogers was told by the officer he needed to be wanded, and he replied, “Maybe later — I have to vote.”
After the vote, the memo continues, Rogers returned to continue the security screening “and asked what he needed to do now,” but was informed by the officer that all security protocols must be done before entering the chamber.
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Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Georgia Republican, was fined $15,000 by the Capitol Police for breaching the metal detector security protocols a handful of times and vowed he would fight it.
“I’m going to appeal it. And then, I’m going to take them to court because this is unconstitutional. We’re all set up to do that, but I had to have standing.”
