A Texas Republican congressman who fought side-by-side with Capitol Police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion — and became an outspoken critic of them — is now fighting against the agency in court.
In a lawsuit, Rep. Troy Nehls alleges the Capitol Police retaliated against him for his vocal, public criticism of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the wake of the incursion.
And he focuses specifically on an action that occurred just after Thanksgiving, 2021, more than 10 months after the violence.
The lawsuit, which names the United States government as defendant and seeks $2.5 million in damages, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, which covers Nehls’ congressional district.
It cites a well-publicized incident in which a Capitol Police officer entered his office on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021, while Congress was on its Thanksgiving break.
The officer took a picture of writing on an eraser board in the office, which Nehls states was related to legislative development.
Two days later, Capitol Police officers wearing clothes that made them appear to be construction workers, according to the lawsuit, returned to Nehls’ office — apparently assuming there would be no one there, according to the lawsuit.
However, a legislative assistant was inside.
“The aide explained that the notes on the whiteboard reflected the Congressman’s work on drafting legislation,” the suit states.
Does Rep. Troy Nehls have a case here?
“Congressman Nehls was later informed by his staff of the unauthorized entry of his office, the photographing of his whiteboard, and the questioning of his staff about the contents of his writings on the whiteboard. He was appalled and outraged by the invasion of his privacy, and he regarded the actions of the Capitol Police to be a threat to the liberties of the people of his district and the nation as a whole.”
The lawsuit states Nehls “has had to worry that he was targeted for his criticism of the Capitol Police and that he may be subject to additional searches of his office. He took precautions and asked the Architect of the Capitol to sweep his office for listening devices. He remains worried and anxious about what else the Capitol Police might do to him.”
Considering Nehls’ biography includes military combat experience, a career in law enforcement and two terms as a Texas county sheriff, it’s a far cry from the relationship he had with the Capitol Police when he first came to Congress.
Sworn in to office only three days before the mayhem of Jan. 6, 2021, Nehls was among a group of congressmen who chose not to flee the House chamber as the incursion reached its doors.
“We augmented the Police and stood our ground,” one of the group, Rep. Pat Fallon, a Texas Republican, wrote in a Jan. 7, 2021, Facebook post.
Capitol Police declined to comment on Nehls’ lawsuit, according to both Politico and The Hill.
At the time of the office Thanksgiving incident, Nehls had made a name for himself as a Pelosi critic. In his public statements, he made clear he thought the violence of Jan. 6 should be blamed on a lack of security preparation for the day Congress gathered to certify the disputed 2020 election — not on then-President Donald Trump.
“If the National Guard would have been deployed on January 4, January 6 would have happened,” Nehls told Newsweek in an interview published in February 2022. “January 6 was a law enforcement failure, a complete failure of security.”
He was one of the Republicans originally appointed by then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to be a member of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 incursion.
However, after Pelosi rejected two McCarthy appointments — Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana — McCarthy announced House Republicans would not participate in what he called a “sham” committee.
The only Republicans who did serve on the committee — Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois — were appointed by Pelosi.
Both are now out of Congress. Kinzinger retired before he faced voters again in 2022. Cheney got demolished in her GOP primary fight for re-election.
Both were also pardoned in January by then-President Joe Biden for their participation in the committee.
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