On Thursday, Jan. 25th, the U.S. House Committee on Ethics announced that it was no longer pursuing an inquiry into Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman for pulling a fire alarm while trying to use a locked exit in September as lawmakers prepared to vote on a measure to avoid a government shutdown.
This decision comes a month after the House of Representatives voted 214 to 191 to censure Bowman, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense after being charged over the incident by the D.C. attorney general.
Representative Bowman, who works in a district that includes suburbs just north of New York City, claims henpulled the alarm in a House office building in late September while trying to get a Saturday vote, as demonstrated by security camera footage.
He later claimed that at the time he thought the alarm would unlock the door, which is usually unlocked during the week when lawmakers are typically in session, as he was reportedly “rushing to make a vote” that would avert the government shutdown.
However, a 16-page report on the case contained previously unreleased encrypted text messages between the congressman and his staff that appeared to show he was not actually on his way to vote at the time, rather he was supposedly heading to an emergency meeting of the Democratic caucus.
Ethics investigators have said that the camera footage showed Mr. Bowman “casually” walking away “without ever looking back to determine whether the alarm facilitated the opening of emergency doors.” Reportedly, he did not alert anyone about the false alarm, despite passing several police officers in the building.
“In addition to providing statements that have been viewed by the O.C.E. as being less than credible, Mr. Bowman failed to take appropriate steps to mitigate the risk of unnecessary harm,” the investigators wrote, referring to the Office of Congressional Ethics, which generated the report for the committee.
Yet, the investigators found no evidence to substantiate that Mr. Bowman had pulled the alarm intentionally or to obstruct the House vote, which Republicans widely accused him of doing. The bipartisan Ethics committee -which works with the House office- claimed there was no reason to continue the investigation.
In a written statement, The House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest said that further inquiry of Bowman’s conduct would be “moot,” given the December censure. He also noted that Bowman has complied with the relevant terms of his sentencing agreement.
“The committee will not further review the matter,” Guest’s statement read.
This development arose just days after Mr. Bowman formally declared his re-election campaign in a district that includes parts of the Bronx and Westchester.
