(John Ransom, Headline USA) Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is ratcheting up pressure on domestic political opponents with the use of the Capitol Police to spy on members of Congress, including doing background on members of the public who meet with lawmakers.
“Whatever they think that sounds like for security, it sounds dangerously close — if not already over the line — to spying on members of Congress, their staff, their constituents and their supporters,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., a former criminal defense attorney, reported Politico.
Armstrong added that while he’s not big for calling on people to resign, in this instance, resignations are not just appropriate, but demanded for whoever implemented the surveillance of lawmakers and citizens.
This is SPYING on members of Congress by the ‘Capitol Police.’A bold move that infringes on the civil liberties of lawmakers and others, unbeknownst to them. All for the Fake Jan6th fairy tale being spun by the left.
Typical behavior from these Marxists!https://t.co/mEdxCDVo9E pic.twitter.com/ScxK7khf6Y— Mucho Gusto (@Outcome42) January 25, 2022
Even the ultra-liberal ACLU agrees.
“When police set out to monitor people’s social media activity without any reason to believe they have engaged in criminal activity, it raises First Amendment concerns,” said Patrick Toomey, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project according to Raw Story.
“Those concerns are especially strong here, where individuals are coming under scrutiny simply because they are exercising their right to petition members of Congress,” he said.
Several people have raised concerns with the Inspector General of the police agency about the practice, including members of Congress who are upset by the revelations, to see if any crimes were committed by the domestic spying scheme, according to Politico.
“These reports are incredibly disturbing,” said McKinley Lewis, a spokesperson for Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., via Raw Story. “It is unthinkable that any government entity would conduct secret investigations to build political dossiers on private Americans.”
Capitol Police, under the supervision of Pelosi, have had long-standing difficulties in their intelligence unit, with a massive overhaul ordered just before the protests of Jan. 6. Some have blamed that process for the lapses in security that day.
“[S]ources tell CNN the rapid overhaul,” said the cable news network, “while well-intentioned, caused internal confusion during the critical weeks ahead of January 6 and scrambled the priorities of the very division whose work helped determine the Capitol Police security presence that day.”
And it looks like the current overhaul is going no better.
