- Video footage showed Bowman pulling the fire alarm during a chaotic weekend vote to keep the government funded on September 30
- He pleaded guilty to a D.C. Attorney General misdemeanor charge of activating a false fire alarm and agreed to pay the maximum fine.
- Ethics, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, voted not to create an investigative subcommittee and send a full report to the House of Representatives
The House Ethics Committee will not investigate Jamaal Bowman’s fire alarm robbery after he has already been charged with a crime by D.C. law enforcement, it announced Wednesday.
Video footage showed Bowman pulling the fire alarm during a chaotic weekend vote to keep the government funded on September 30. He pleaded guilty to a D.C. Attorney General misdemeanor charge related to activating a false fire alarm and agreed to pay the maximum fine.
The indictment launched the Ethics Panel process to investigate a lawmaker. But the committee, which was evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, voted not to create an investigative subcommittee and to send a full report to the House of Representatives.
“A majority of committee members did not agree to establish an (investigative subcommittee) or report to the House on Rep. Bowman’s conduct,” Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., said. and ranking member Susan Wild, D-Pa., said in a statement.
Republicans accused Bowman of pulling the fire alarm to delay a vote on an emergency government funding bill.
Bowman in action: The former high school principal is pictured looking at a door
Bowman makes his way to the fire alarm
Bowman reaches for the fire alarm
Former Chairman Kevin McCarthy had filed a “clean” continuing resolution, CR, to extend the funding deadline and avoid a shutdown hours before a deadline. Democrats had wanted more time to read the bill and ensure they were not duped.
Under the agreement with prosecutors, Bowman will have to pay a $1,000 fine and write an apology to the Capitol Police.
The New York Democrat called allegations that he deliberately sounded the alarm “complete BS” and claimed he thought he was opening a door.
But Capitol Police referred him to prosecutors, who charged him with one misdemeanor charge and ordered him to appear in court.
The September 30 incident took place in the Cannon House Office building and led to calls from Republicans to expel him from Congress. But days later, McCarthy was removed as speaker, sending the House into a tailspin and putting Bowman’s punishment on the back burner.
Obtained by @NY1: Images of Rep. Bowman pulling the fire alarm at the Cannon House Office Building on September 30.
Bowman pleaded guilty in court this morning to “intentionally or knowingly giving a false fire alarm” in DC. pic.twitter.com/HaBBAaLQqI
— Kevin Frey (@KevinFreyTV) October 26, 2023
Bowman, rightly, will not face an Ethics Commission investigation
The charge was “intentionally and knowingly causing a false fire alarm, in violation of the DC Code,” and the New York Democrat was ordered to appear in court for arraignment on Thursday.
“I thought the alarm was going to open the door,” Bowman had originally told reporters about the incident.
“I was rushing to vote, trying to get to a door.”
Bowman called the idea that he pulled the fire alarm to delay a vote “complete BS.”
After the former school principal struck a deal with prosecutors, he changed his tune: “I am responsible for setting off a fire alarm, I will pay the fine imposed and I look forward to these charges eventually being dropped,” he said in a statement. .