On Wednesday, the House Ethics Committee voted against opening an investigation or a report into Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who, on September 30, pulled the fire alarm while the House was voting to avert a government shutdown. Doing so is a violation of the DC code, and Bowman was charged by the DC Attorney General and pled guilty last month.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to charge Bowman for "obstructing an official proceeding," despite how the congressman pulling the fire alarm when there was no such emergency disrupted the vote. Democrats had been complaining about a supposed lack of time to read the bill, though it ended up passing with a bipartisan vote.
BREAKING: The House Ethics Committee just voted against opening an investigation into Rep. Jamaal Bowman for pulling the fire alarm.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 22, 2023
No DOJ charge for "obstructing an official proceeding" for Bowman or investigation from House Ethics.
Just one misdemeanor. pic.twitter.com/Z4AEAAN14z
A brief November 22 letter notes that the Committee's rules require a majority vote in favor of an Investigative Subcommittee (ISC) or a report. "A majority of the Members of the Committee did not agree to establish an ISC or report to the House regarding Bowman's conduct."
The Democratic members on the committee almost certainly voted against opening an investigation into Bowman. It would appear then that Bowman's fellow Democrats have bought his bogus talking points. The Squad member has been seeking to distract from his crime and instead cast blame on Republicans, with a lot of focus on January 6. Earlier talking points from his office, not long after he pulled the alarm, landed him in hot water and forced him to issue a clarification after those "suggested talking points" mentioned "Nazi" without his "consent."
"I believe Congressman Bowman when he says this was an accident. Republicans need to instead focus their energy on the Nazi members of their party before anything else," one of those talking points read.
Bowman has also been in the news quite a bit recently for his take on the Israel-Hamas war, not just when it comes to calling for a ceasefire, but by claiming to do so is "what it actually means to be Jewish." Bowman himself is not Jewish. At the same event he attended and spoke at with other Squad members in support of a ceasefire, Bowman also lamented how rabbis in his district wrote a letter against him for demanding a ceasefire. A ceasefire is to Hamas' benefit. Hamas also broke a ceasefire when they perpetrated a terrorist attack against Israel on October 7.
Guy also highlighted even more outrageous takes from Bowman in his piece from earlier on Wednesday, from voting against condemning Hamas as a terrorist organization, to complaining even further about security in Israel, with claims that he had to walk through certain checkpoints in the West Bank since he's not Jewish.