OAN’s Abril Elfi
4:58 PM – Wednesday, November 22, 2023
The House of Ethics committee panel has announced that they will not be investigating the inquiry against Democrat Representative Jamaal Bowman for pulling the Capitol’s fire alarm.
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On Wednesday, Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and ranking member Representative Susan Wild (D-Pa.) announced that they will not establish a subcommittee to investigate Bowman (D-N.Y.).
When a member of the House is accused of a crime, the panel has 30 days to determine whether to form an investigative subcommittee (ISC) and present a report to the House.
“Pursuant to Committee Rule 10(a), establishment of an ISC and a report to the House regarding the conduct of a Member both require an affirmative vote of a majority of the Members of the Committee,” the committee said in its news release. “A majority of the Members of the Committee did not agree to establish an ISC or report to the House regarding Representative Bowman’s conduct.”
The announcement from the Ethics committee was made almost a month after Bowman entered a guilty plea to a single misdemeanor charge of setting off a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building before a significant House vote.
Before the House could vote on a stopgap bill to fund the government before the deadline for the shutdown, Bowman decided to pull the alarm.
Security camera footage shows Bowman looking at the doors that read “Emergency Exit Only Push Until Alarm Sounds,” then, as he notices that the doors are locked, he gazes at the red fire alarm and pulls it.
According to the lawsuit, after pulling down the alarm, Bowman strolled by Capitol police officers without saying anything or alerting them that he was the individual who was responsible for pulling the alarm.
Bowman then entered the Capitol building again just four minutes after pulling the alarm. Later, he finally admitted that he pulled it, but claimed that the incident was an “innocent mistake.”
“I was rushing to make a vote,” Bowman said. “I didn’t know it would trigger the whole building.”
After the event, some Republicans introduced a bill to censure Bowman, claiming that he was deliberately trying to sabotage the impending vote. As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, Bowman promised to “write an apology to Capitol Police and pay a $1,000 fine.”
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