BREAKING: Rep Jamaal Bowman has been criminally charged with one misdemeanor count of falsely pulling a fire alarm for the September 30th incident in the Cannon Office Building, according to court documents, @dnlbrns & I report.
CAPITOL POLICE: "We finished our investigation. Our agents gathered all the evidence, packaged it up, and sent the entire case with charges to prosecutors for their consideration.”
Capitol Police says their case has been done for a while, and that they presented a probable cause arrest warrant for 22DC1319A - False Fire Alarm - to the attorney general.
Per @dnlbrns, the charge against Rep Bowman carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail. He has been ordered to appear in DC Superior Court tomorrow morning at 9:30am for his arraignment.
New stmt from Committee on House Administration Chairman Steil (R-WI): "Rep. Bowman's excuse does not pass the sniff test...I want to thank U.S. Capitol Police for their swift attention to this incident, and encourage the Ethics Committee to further pursue this matter."
More HERE on Rep Bowman being criminally charged for pulling the fire alarm on Capitol Hill on September 30th, via @dnlbrns, @zarichards & myself:
Flag: McConnell just stopped abruptly during his opening statement during the gop leadership presser and appeared to be unable to restart talking. He then stepped away and walked away with Barrasso: https://t.co/f1kFUjggzmtwitter.com/i/web/status/1…
UPDATE: McConnell is back at the presser.
Asked about what happened at the top of the press conference, MCCONNELL says “I’m fine.”
SCOOP: Senate security officials have taken new steps to protect the secrecy of senators’ weekly closed-door lunches after a contract employee was arrested for allegedly recording audio of a GOP lunch in early March, via @JulieNBCNews, @GarrettHaake & I -> nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
@JulieNBCNews@GarrettHaake According to court documents the employee told police that he had been recording the meeting “for multiple hours.” He also claimed that he was married to the VP of Liberia and “wanted to provide his ‘wife’ the VP of Liberia with American political information.”
@JulieNBCNews@GarrettHaake The arrest prompted security officials to institute new protocols for contractors and service staff, including a requirement for workers to leave cell phones in cabinets outside of the party meeting rooms before entering Senate lunches.
Super excited to share a piece six-months in the making:
FACES OF THE INVESTIGATION - a photo essay on the House Jan 6th Committee's work, the members who conducted the investigation, and those who step forward to tell their stories.
The piece is culled from hundreds of negatives, with portraits shot with a large-format film camera of over a dozen people involved in the Jan 6 Ctme's investigation on large-format film.
Senate Minority Whip THUNE on the Fuentes/Trump dinner: “Well, that's just a bad idea on every level. I don't know who is—who's advising him on his staff, but I hope that whoever that person was got fired.”
BLUNT: “Well, I wouldn't want to have dinner with either one of those guys.” (Kanye or Fuentes)
Rick Scott: “There's no room in the Republican Party for white supremacist anti semitism, so it’s wrong.”
Portman: “It was wrong & inappropriate to have that meeting, white supremacy has no place in our nation's culture & it’s antithetical to anything we stand for as Americans.”
Senate voting NOW on the key procedural hurdle to move forward with the Respect for Marriage Act. This needs 60 votes to pass, and is just the first vote that would lead to Senate passage of the bill.
If the Senate (eventually) passes the bill it would then go to the House.
Vote is ongoing but there are four GOP YESes at the moment:
Collins
Lummis
Portman
Tillis