Capitol Police officials will implement new security protocols in the Senate after a Maryland man was reportedly arrested after attempting to record a closed-door lawmaker meeting earlier this month.
The Maryland man was arrested on charges of “interception and use of wiretap” after he told Capitol Police he left his phone inside a Senate Republican lunch on March 7 to record their conversation “for multiple hours,” according to court documents obtained by NBC News. A senator spotted the phone during the meeting and handed the device over to the police.
SENATE VOTES TO REPEAL IRAQ AND GULF WAR AUTHORIZATIONS, SENDING BILL TO HOUSE
The man also managed to gather trash from the Senate Republican lunch meeting, including notes from the “slideshow of information that was talked about in the event,” according to the documents.
The man was a contract employee with At Your Service, a food service provider that often caters lunches for lawmakers on Capitol Hill, and charges were dropped in the case, according to the outlet.
The motive for the recording incident is not clear, but the man told officers he was married to the vice president of Liberia and wanted to provide her “with American political information,” according to court documents. There is no record that the man is married to the vice president of Liberia.
“It’s really concerning,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said. “Those conversations are an opportunity for senators to talk candidly about issues. So to have people on record and easily identifiable by their voices is problematic.”
It’s not clear whether the employee has been fired from his position, but a spokesperson for the company told the outlet that “the issue has been addressed and appropriately handled.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The incident prompted security officials to instate new protocols for closed-door meetings held in the Senate, including a requirement for workers to leave their cellphones and other devices in cabinets outside meeting rooms.
Capitol Police declined to comment further on the incident, telling the Washington Examiner it “cannot publicly discuss any potential ongoing investigations.”