Texas Republican Rep. Troy Nehls accused the Capitol Police of “illegally” investigating his office, taking photos of “confidential legislative products,” and having special agents dressed like construction workers question a staff member.
In response to the allegations, the Capitol Police chief suggested the officer activity in Nehls’s office was part of standard protocol, but Nehls remains resolute.
“The @CapitolPolice Intelligence Division investigated my office illegally and one of my staffers caught them in the act,” Nehls wrote in a thread on Twitter on Tuesday.
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.
— Congressman Troy Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) February 8, 2022
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Nehls, sheriff of Fort Bend County, Texas, for eight years before winning his suburban Houston-area House seat in 2020, accused Capitol Police of entering his office for an investigation on two occasions in November.
Nehls’s accusation comes as Tom Manger confirmed an inspector general investigation was opened to examine Capitol Police monitoring members of Congress.
“On November 20th, 2021, Capitol Police entered my office without my knowledge and photographed confidential legislative products,” Nehls said.
“Two days later on Monday November 22, 2021 (Thanksgiving week), three intelligence officers attempted to enter my office while the House was in recess,” the congressman continued. “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.”
According to the Federalist, the officer took a photo of a whiteboard that Nehls and his staff used to brainstorm legislative ideas. The officer reportedly wrote in a police report after the incident that the board included “suspicious writings mentioning body armor.”
Nehls said neither he nor any of his staff was notified of being investigated or told why, suggesting the reason has to do with his vocal criticism of the House select committee formed to investigate the Capitol riot. Nehls was initially selected by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on the Jan. 6 panel, but Republicans boycotted the committee after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vetoed two of McCarthy’s picks.
In a statement, Chief Manger stood by his officers, denied they were investigating Nehls, and suggested no wrongdoing.
“The United States Capitol Police is sworn to protect Members of Congress. 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,” Manger said.
He continued: “The weekend before Thanksgiving, one of our vigilant officers spotted the Congressman’s door was wide open. That Monday, USCP personnel personally followed up with the Congressman’s staff and determined no investigation or further action of any kind was needed. No case investigation was ever initiated or conducted into the Representative or his staff.”
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That did not satisfy Nehl’s office. A spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that Manger did not mention the “illegally taken” photograph of material “that is protected under Article I Section 6 of the speech and debate clause in the US constitution.”
In a tweet later on Tuesday, Nehls said: “Release the photo!”
.@CapitolPolice release the photo!
— Congressman Troy Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) February 8, 2022
Nehls is not the only member of Congress mobilizing on concerns of Capitol Police snooping on members. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren on Tuesday, Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs led a group of 33 of his colleagues in asking the House committee to look into reports of Capitol Police surveillance of members and others in the Capitol complex.
