In a series of tweets, U.S. House of Representatives member Troy Nehls (R-Texas) claimed that Capitol Police were illegally investigating him and entered his office to photograph legislative documents without his knowledge. The alleged incidents are supposed to have taken place three months ago.
🚨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
“On November 20, 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,” Nehls alleges in a February 8 tweet.
According to Nehls, just two days after the first incident, three Capitol Police officers with the intelligence division entered his office “dressed like construction workers.”
When the officers entered, Nehls alleges they discovered a member of his staff was present and began to question him about the contents of photographs apparently taken two days earlier. Nehls tweeted that the House was in recess for Thanksgiving at the time.
“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?” Nehls asked.
Nehls speculated the reason for the investigation is that he has been a vocal critic of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the January 6th committee, and Capitol Police’s actions during the January 6, 2021 protests at the U.S. Capitol.
The Congressman did not provide evidence to support his claims.
Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger almost immediately responded, issuing a statement saying there has never been an investigation into Nehls and that police did not break into his office. Instead, Manger said police entered Nehls’ office after finding that the door was “open and unsecured,” as they are instructed to do.
“The United States Capitol Police (USCP) 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,” the statement reads.
The statement goes on to say that during the weekend before Thanksgiving, an officer spotted that Nehls’ office door was wide open. Two days later, additional USCP personnel followed up with Nehls’ staff and determined no further action or investigation was needed.
“No case investigation was ever initiated or conducted into the Representative or his staff,” the statement concludes.
Nehls then responded in another tweet, claiming that Manger mischaracterized the event and left out details.
“In what world does Capitol Police leadership encourage officers to enter a Member’s private office, take photographs, collect evidence, dispatch intelligence agents to question staff – and then say that’s not an investigation?” Nehls said in a statement.
Nehls is a freshman U.S. House of Representatives member elected to represent the 22nd congressional district in Texas in November 2020. Before he entered politics, Nehls was the Sheriff of Fort Bend County from 2013 to 2020.
During the January 6 protests at the Capitol, Nehls reportedly helped Capitol Police hold back protesters who were pounding on the doors of the House chambers. Along with Representative Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), he broke off pieces of wood and stood shoulder to shoulder with USCP officers who had their guns drawn.
Since then, Nehls has openly questioned USCP’s actions during the event, including the legality of police shooting Ashli Babbit as she attempted to break into the Capitol building. He has also called the events at the Capitol a Democrat-led attack.
On the one-year anniversary of the January 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol, Nehls released a statement calling the House committee investigating the events a “weapon against President Trump” and accused Speaker Pelosi of failing “to protect the Capitol grounds.”
