Inspector General Opens Investigation Into US Capitol Police Being Caught Spying on Republican Congressmen

Say-- Nancy Pelosi is ultimately in charge of the Capitol Police, right?

Sean Davis at The Federalist:

The inspector general for the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) has opened a formal investigation into whether the law enforcement agency tasked with securing the Capitol has been inappropriately surveilling elected members of Congress, their staff, and visitors to their offices, The Federalist has learned. The opening of the investigation follows news reports and accusations from lawmakers that USCP has overstepped its bounds as it tries to recover from the January 6 riots that tarnished both the Capitol and the reputation of the law enforcement agency that was supposed to keep it safe.

USCP Chief J. Thomas Manger confirmed the opening of the inspector general investigation in his response to congressional inquiries about USCP police tactics, reported in a January 24 article published by Politico, including surveilling and compiling intelligence dossiers on members of Congress, their staff, and visitors.

"While I am confident in our methods, I am asking the USCP Office of the Inspector General to review the USCP's programs related to these security assessments to assure both this Committee, the Congress as a whole, and the public that these processes are legal, necessary, and appropriate," Manger wrote to seven Republican lawmakers.

According to the Politico article, USCP analysts had been directed by Julie Farnam, the acting director of USCP's Intelligence and Interagency Coordination Division, to "run 'background checks on people whom lawmakers planned to meet, including donors and associates."

"When staff were listed as attending these meetings, Capitol Police intelligence analysts also got asked to check the social media accounts of the staffers," the Politico article alleged.

In his letter to lawmakers, Manger denied the allegations detailed in the Politico article and claimed USCP's activities were both appropriate and legal.

Suspicions that USCP may not be acting appropriately did not arise in a vacuum, however. In November 2021, a USCP officer entered the congressional office of Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Tex., and took a photo of a whiteboard in Nehls' legislative office detailing various legislative plans being considered by Nehls and his staff. In a formal police report filed several days after the incident, the officer wrote that he had been conducting a routine security patrol on Saturday, November 21, and discovered that one of the doors to Nehls' office was open.

The report claimed that the officer entered Nehls' office and found a whiteboard that contained "suspicious writings mentioning body armor[.]" The officer reportedly took a photo of the whiteboard, which was then passed around to analysts within USCP. The following Monday, USCP dispatched three plain-clothed intelligence officers to Nehls' office and questioned a staffer who was there about the whiteboard and the legislative proposals it contained.

Congressman Nehls wrote about this spying episode today:

Congressman Troy Nehls @RepTroyNehls

The @CapitolPolice Intelligence Division investigated my office illegally and one of my staffers caught them in the act.

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.

Two days later on Monday November 22, 2021 (Thanksgiving week), three intelligence officers attempted to enter my office while the House was in recess.
Congressman Troy Nehls

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.

@CapitolPolice never informed myself or senior level staff of their investigation and the reasons are clear.

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?

Maybe it is because I have been a vocal critic of @SpeakerPelosi, the @January6thCmte, and @CapitolPolice leadership about their handling of January 6th, the death of Ashli Babbitt and the subsequent SHAM investigation.

Defund the Capitol Police.

No, that'll never happen -- Lindsey Graham and Bitch McConnell are huge, huge fans. They shoot unarmed women whenever Miss Lindey feels stressy and demands a relief murder.

Julie Kelly just wrote about the Deep State's illegally-spy-and-then-illegally-leak tactics.

All paid for by you!

After January 6, 2021, Capitol Police officials announced plans to expand beyond the legislatively authorized purview of the agency and open offices in Florida and California, as well as in other states. Congress overwhelmingly supported a bill last year to fork over $2.1 billion in new funding to the Capitol Police. Now flush with cash and immune from any serious public oversight, the agency is returning the favor by spying on dissidents of the Biden regime.

According to Politico, Capitol Police investigators are preparing secret dossiers on lawmakers, congressional staff, donors, and even constituents who visit their representatives in public or in private.

"After the Jan. 6 insurrection (sic), the Capitol Police's intelligence unit quietly started scrutinizing the backgrounds of people who meet with lawmakers," reporters Molly Woodruff Swan and Daniel Lippman wrote. "Several Capitol Police intelligence analysts have already raised concerns about the practice to the department's inspector general," one source told Politico.

Investigators are asked to scour social media accounts and even examine "tax and real estate records to find out who owned the properties that lawmakers visited." In one example, Capitol Police analyzed a fundraiser held in a private home for Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.). Donors to House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), who was shot by a Bernie Sanders supporter in 2017, also are under Capitol police scrutiny.

Far from ensuring the safety of legislators and their staffs, the underlying political motive is obvious to anyone who's been paying attention the past several years: the Capitol Police, acting as the Stasi of the Democratic Party, will collect dirt on Republicans under the pretense of national security then leak gossipy details to an always-compliant news media.

Journalists will then source the leaks to anonymous "intelligence officials" to legitimize any incriminating disclosures, which in turn will prompt Democrats to call for immediate investigations and criminal referrals--see the January 6 select committee for how this successful formula works.

In fact, an official from the Obama Administration, the birthplace of Russiagate and other political espionage efforts, is heading up the new endeavor.

posted by Ace at 12:17 PM

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