Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, attracted national attention last year for physically defending the Capitol’s police officers during the Jan. 6 riot… but now he has a message for the Capitol police service.
On Twitter, he accused the police of breaking into his office to take photos of a legislative proposal.
“The @CapitolPolice Intelligence Division investigated my office illegally and one of my staffers caught them in the act,” Nehls tweeted.
He continued:
On November 20th, 2021, Capitol Police entered my office without my knowledge…
Two days later on Monday November 22, 2021 (Thanksgiving week), three intelligence officers attempted to enter my office while the House was in recess…
@CapitolPolice never informed myself or senior level staff of their investigation…
Why is the Capitol Police Leadership maliciously investigating me in an attempt to destroy me and my character?
Capitol police admitted to entering the office but denied any overreach. According to a statement, Capitol police must inspect all offices with their doors left open.
“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,” Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said in a statement to Axios.
The chief denied any “investigation” into Nehls.
“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,” he said.
The chief still “stands by his officer,” a police spokesperson told Axios.
Nehls claims to have asked the Capitol Police to investigate the internal incident, according to Politico.
Nehls himself began his public service career by joining the police department in 1994. According to police records reviewed by local news, Nehls was later fired for multiple infractions, including the destruction of evidence.
He resumed his law enforcement career by successfully running for constable in 2004. He was later elected sheriff in 2012, before being elected to Congress in 2020.
Nehls took office three days before Jan. 6. At the time, he was seen assisting Capitol police in barricading a door to keep out the rioters. He appeared to be using a wooden pole as a defensive weapon, after hearing some glass shatter.
“It took an enormous amount of force to shatter that glass,” Nehls told Politico later that month. “You can see some remnants on top of the furniture — the little white sprinkling of dust from where the glass came in.”
He continued:
I told the individuals on the other side of the door that they shouldn’t be doing this. ‘This is not the way we should be handling business. This is un-American, unnecessary and dangerous.’
And there’s no reason they should be doing this. I said, ‘You should be embarrassed of yourselves.’
Take a look —
How lawmakers trapped in the House stood their ground
A handful of House members who were in the chamber recount how they fought off violent insurrectionists during the deadly January 6 attacks. https://t.co/SDH2MnXX4S
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) January 21, 2021
The Horn editorial team