A Republican U.S. Congressman blew up on Twitter Tuesday, accusing the Capitol Police of “illegally” entering his office – three months ago – in a conspiratorial series of accusations.
Texas freshman GOP Rep. Troy Nehls breathlessly detailed how the Capitol Police’s Intelligence Division allegedly “investigated my office illegally and one of my staffers caught them in the act.”
The Daily Beast describes Nehls’ accusations as “an eyebrow-raising series of tweets that read like a paperback political thriller,” and says he “divulged on Tuesday that he was the subject of a Capitol Police intelligence investigation, softening the ground for whatever may be coming down the pike.”
Nehls is a former sheriff, graduate of Liberty University, and belongs to the far-right Republican Study Committee. He claims the Capitol Police violated his constitutional rights.
“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,” he claims.
“Two days later on Monday November 22, 2021 (Thanksgiving week), three intelligence officers attempted to enter my office while the House was in recess.”
In what would appear to be an expression of concern about what might turn up, Nehls also tweeted:
He goes on to charge, the Capitol Police Leadership is “maliciously investigating me in an attempt to destroy me and my character.”
Nehls, who was one of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s picks to serve on the January 6 Committee until he pulled all GOP members, calls the Committee’s work a “SHAM.”
Meanwhile, it sounds like this all started because Nehls or a staffer left the office door open.
Politico reports Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger “said it’s policy that if officers see a lawmaker’s office is open without anyone inside, they are ‘directed to document that and secure the office to ensure nobody can wander in and steal or do anything else nefarious.'”
“The weekend before Thanksgiving, one of our vigilant officers spotted the Congressman’s door was wide open,” Manger said. “That Monday, [Capitol Police] 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,” Manger said in a statement.
“Worth noting,” Politico adds, “A House watchdog is considering whether to launch a program aimed at identifying internal threats.”