Inspector general says officer exercised "questionable judgment" taking photo and recommends department institute better policies, training.
An internal investigation has confirmed Capitol Police entered Texas Republican Rep. Troy Nehls' office and photographed a whiteboard containing his sensitive legislative plans, concluding the officer who took the picture exercised "questionable judgment" and the department lacked policies and training to avoid an unnecessary intrusion on lawmakers' constitutionally protected work.
The episode from last November exposed the need for Capitol Police to strike a "proper balance of protecting congressional representatives and their staff from physical outside threats while simultaneously protecting their legislative proposals and work product from possibly inappropriate photography, scrutiny, and questioning," the department's inspector general wrote in a lengthy report reviewed by Just the News.
Nehls told Just the News on Thursday night he was "a little disappointed" the internal probe did not resolve a key factual question about the officer's claim of why he entered the congressman's office over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
He said the failure to resolve that key question and the surfacing of other unusual facts turned up during the internal probe only heightened his fears that Capitol Police targeted him for investigation for political reasons related to his criticism of the Democrat-led Jan. 6 committee investigation.
"I personally believe that Nancy Pelosi has weaponized the U.S. Capitol Police as her own investigations unit," Nehls said in an interview with the "Just the News, Not Noise" television show. "She goes after anybody that has dissenting point of views. I obviously have been a very vocal critic of the January 6th committee and the events of January 6."
The Capitol Police provided a statement to Just the News that did not address the IG's criticisms of the officer or the department but strongly insisted Nehls was never under criminal investigation and that any suggestion to the contrary only undermined the police force.
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