Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., is planning to mount a court challenge of a $5,000 fine for refusing to walk through metal detectors to enter the House.
In a statement Monday, Clyde said he’s making the legal move because his appeal of the hefty fine was rejected.
“This now provides the legal standing which I needed to challenge this unconstitutional resolution,” he said of the metal detectors at the entrance to the floor of the House.
“Another aspect that greatly concerns me is the unequal enforcement and selective manner these fines have been implemented,” he stated, referencing closed-circuit footage “providing irrefutable proof that Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi [D-Calif.] bypassed her own screening procedures.
“While my team and I continue to await an announcement of a fine levied on the Speaker, we are preparing for the next stage of this fight. I will take my case to federal court where I am confident justice will be served,” he stated.
As part of the changes enacted by Pelosi after the Jan. 6 attack of the Capitol, House members can be subjected to fines — $5,000 for the first violation and $10,000 for additional infractions — for avoiding the metal detectors, Politico noted. The fines are deducted automatically from lawmakers’ paychecks.
In an interview with Fox News last month, Clyde railed at the safety measures, saying he bypassed them on purpose.
“I did that so we would have legal standing to take the case to federal court, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” he told the news outlet. “People have to stand for the Constitution.”
Other Republicans have pushed back at the security measures installed since Jan. 6, arguing they’re unnecessary and intrude on their ability to carry out their official duties.
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, was hit with a fine for going around House metal detectors and, like Clyde, has had his appeal rejected by the House Ethics Committee.
After the metal detectors were stationed outside the House chambers, several Republicans were observed trying to go around them, set them off without stopping, or argue with Capitol security officials about the matter, Politico reported.
Capitol Police reportedly opened an investigation in January into whether one GOP House member had tried to bring a firearm onto the floor.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a federal law prohibiting weapons on the Capitol grounds in 1967 though he enabled the Capitol Police Board to make exceptions, the Washington Post noted.
Source: Newmax
