Texas GOP representative Dan Crenshaw is being slapped with a $5,000 fine for attempting to bypass a metal detector at Capitol Hill last week, according to a House Ethics Committee statement.
This move is coming after the House sergeant-at-arms, empowered by House Resolution 73, adopted by the U.S. Congress under Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in February, imposed a penalty for this incident, which occurred on September 23rd.
“On September 27, 2021, the Committee received a notification from the Office of the Sergeant at Arms that Representative Dan Crenshaw had been fined pursuant to House Resolution 73. Pursuant to Section 1(a)(3) of House Resolution 73, the Committee hereby publishes the fine notification,” the House Ethics Committee said in their statement late Wednesday.
“Upon a determination regarding any appeal or if no appeal is received within 30 days of the Member’s notification of the fine, the Committee will make a further public statement regarding this matter. In order to comply with Committee Rule 7 regarding confidentiality, the Committee will refrain from making further public statements until that time,” the statement added.
Nancy Pelosi worked in tandem with Sergeant-at-Arms William J. Walker after Capitol Police had determined that an investigation had revealed that Representative Crenshaw and a second man had breached the House chamber and avoided security in doing so.
Two of the men entered the chamber about 10 minutes apart, according to the report from the Capitol Police. They added this metal detector measure after the January 6th incursion so that they could improve security. They also stipulated that any member of the U.S. Congress who failed to pass through security would be given a $5,000 fine, with subsequent violations being at $10,000 apiece.
This measure would allow a lawmaker to appeal within 30 days. However, Crenshaw has not publicly responded to how he is going to handle the fine. Moreover, just because the sergeant-at-arms imposes the fine, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the lawmakers will always pay them.
It was April when the House Majority Whip James Clyburn faced a fine of his own for bypassing these metal detectors, which he did by using the restroom during an April 20 House vote, according to Politico. Moreover, this South Carolina Democrat even walked around the detectors, exiting through a different door so that he could go to the bathroom.
Clyburn did successfully appeal the fine under a May decision by the Ethics Committee. There was a similar appeal by Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky for a violation April 19th that was also successful. An appeal by Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas during that same time was also successful.
“The officer said I needed to be wanded but since I had already been through the metal detector thoroughly and having never before been required to be wanded after already having entered the floor properly, I returned to the House floor to engage in my turn to debate the bill under consideration,” Gohmert wrote in his appeal.
“I did all of that to enter the House floor. Further, there was no notice of the change in the requirement that once all of the requirements were met and the House floor was entered, that I would have to be wanded when returning from the restroom mere feet from the Speaker’s Lobby where there were no metal detector.”
Seems to me that this is yet another way for Pelosi to give the GOP grief.