The USCP’s inspector general reviewed the actions of officer Kevin Dias, who claims he saw the door to the office of Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) “wide open” on Nov. 20, 2021.
Dias said he went inside the office and spotted a whiteboard that contained writings about China and body armor, which he found suspicious. Dias took a picture, which he was said to have sent to a supervisor. The USCP later sent three intelligence agents to the office, where they questioned a staffer who answered the door.
Nehls, a former sheriff, asked for an investigation into the incident, asserting what happened was illegal.
According to the inspector general’s report, which was first reported by Just the News and obtained by The Epoch Times, Dias “exercised questionable judgment in concluding it was his duty or mission to read and photograph the written product of a congressman or the congressman’s staff contained on a whiteboard in a private congressional office.”
The watchdog, though, claimed the officer’s actions were “mitigated by that fact that in its review,” the inspector general “found no evidence of where this type of scenario was discussed or relevant guidance was provided by the Department in officer training or its written procedures.”
Nehls told The Epoch Times that he was disappointed with the work of the watchdog, which chose to conduct a review instead of an audit.
The watchdog said that it reviewed USCP policies and procedures and interviewed officials, officers, and staff members of Nehls in addition to inspecting the door Dias claimed to find open. “We did not conduct an audit, the objective of which would be the expression of an opinion on Department programs. Accordingly, we do not express such an opinion,” the office said in the report.
Nehls noted that the watchdog never seized the phone Dias used to snap the picture or obtain other hard evidence, such as emails sent between USCP officers, instead relying on testimony from Dias and others.
“I believe there’s a cover up here,” Nehls said.
A USCP spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email: “In February, a U.S. Representative claimed that we illegally investigated and spied on him and his staff. The allegations were made after one of our vigilant officers noticed the door to the Congressman’s office suite had been left open during the Thanksgiving weekend. The U.S. Representative was never under criminal investigation. His staff was never under criminal investigation. The Inspector General’s report supports these conclusions.”
“Spreading unfounded conspiracy theories in the press undermines the work our brave men and women do every day to protect the Members of Congress, the Capitol Complex, and the legislative process,” the spokesperson added.
Ronald Gregory, the acting USCP inspector general, told The Epoch Times in an email that the office “does not release reports related to internal investigations to the general public/media.”
Dias told the watchdog that he was suspicious about words on the board including “Body Armor,” “remove BM,” and “Felony to fake NIH cert.,” and that a rough map had been drawn of the Rayburn and Longworth Buildings with an x marking one spot. He said he took a picture based on his officer training. He also cited his training in explaining why he filled out a form called a PD-76, which is meant to detail contact with individuals.
According to the inspector general, because Dias came into contact with no individuals when entering the office, he should have filled out a form called CP-50. Additionally, a form filled out by a supervisory sergeant, called a CP-170, summarizing the day’s events omitted information provided by Dias.
Dias also said he had never before taken a photograph inside the office of a member of Congress, though it was the first time he had seen writing he deemed suspicious.
USCP officer Thomas Andriko recounted being asked by the USCP Command Center to contact Dias after Dias left Nehls’ office, with Dias relaying what had happened and asking what form he should fill out. Andriko wrongly instructed him to fill out the PD-76.
Andriko said Dias sent him the completed form along with the photograph of the whiteboard and that he forwarded the material to his on-call supervisor, Sgt. Timothy Pezzuti. Andriko reviewed the material the following day, decided it “looks like an intel thing,” and sent it to an intelligence supervisor after discussing with his supervisor, Sgt. David Millard.
Sgt. Kim Seifert, in the USCP’s intelligence division, received the report and the photograph on Nov. 22. She sent it to Private First Class Kevin Currie, part of the division, who went to the office later that day—a Saturday—with two other officers.
The House was in recess a the time and Nehls believes the officers wanted to enter his office, thinking it would be empty. The officers were dressed in civilian clothing, which Nehls has described as making them appear like construction workers. According to the report, at least one of the officers was wearing Carhartt-branded pants, which are often used in blue-collar industries.
The officers encountered Jay Campbell, an aide to Nehls. They explained what had happened. Campbell said that Nehls was working on legislation related to body armor and that a map of the Rayburn Office Building was on the whiteboard to direct an intern to an ice machine. Currie said that the explanation made sense and the officers left.
Campbell said he was surprised by the officers being there and thought it “was weird that they did not ask to come into the office,” but would not have let them in had they asked.
Currie advised superiors that he found nothing suspicious and did not believe any further investigation was needed.
Seifert said it was the first time she'd ever heard of an officer photographing a whiteboard in the office of a member of Congress, but that officers were trained to report anything they thought was suspicious.
Sgt. Salvatore Guigliano, another intelligence official, said that he reviewed the materials produced by Dias and concluded the officer’s concerns were “all over the place and not pertinent.” He said he determined they could wait to be addressed until after the weekend.
But Guigliano found out that Seifert had already assigned the matter to Currie, who had already gone to the office. He told Currie he agreed with the recommendation that no further action was needed.
The actual form Dias filled out was entered by officer Kenneth Williams on Nov. 23, 2021, a delay he attributed to the weekend and a payroll day.
Williams said he didn’t recall seeing a photograph but that he cannot enter pictures in the system.
The report was never updated by Sgt. Chris Dang, who is charged with updating them, according to Guigliano. He said Dang had medical issues. Guigliano himself updated the PD-76 to include “no follow-up necessary” on Jan. 6, over one month after Dias entered Nehls’ office.
Guigliano said it was the first time he heard of an officer photographing a whiteboard in the office of a member of Congress and that officers had not been issued cell phones until after the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the Capitol. He said USCP should offer guidance on when officers should take pictures, and of what.
Campbell said that USCP inspector Michael Spochart initially told him that the agency suspected Nehls had been targeted but later said that Dias had thought there may have been an intruder who had made a “veiled threat” against the congressman. Campbell said the door to the office, said to have been left open, closes on its own unless it’s propped open by a piece of furniture or other item. While the door does not lock automatically, staff members make sure each evening to lock it. Campbell said the door may have been left unlocked by mistake but that he doubted that happened.
Inspector general employees went to the door and confirmed that it automatically closed unless propped open. They interviewed Nehls’ legislative director, Evan Bender, who said that none of the doors into the office were under maintenance when Dias entered.
No video surveillance of Dias entering the office was available because the surveillance footage is only stored for 30 days, the watchdog found.
The watchdog made six recommendations, including that the USCP update its procedures to carefully define the term “criminal activity” to avoid letting officers believe they are authorized to conduct surveillance or gather intelligence on members of Congress or their staff members. The watchdog also recommended the USCP develop and implement guidance addressing privacy concerns within legislative officers, train its officers on the CP-50 and PD-76 forms, and instruct officers on how to properly use government-issued cell phones.
The USCP did not respond to a request for comment.
Nehls said he was singled out because of his criticism of the USCP, including charging that the force was ill-prepared for Jan. 6, and of House Democrat leaders.
“I believe I was targeted,” he said. “I am one of maybe two or three members of Congress that has been a very vocal critic of the leadership team of the Capitol Police.”
