{"id":1506272,"date":"2022-06-07T10:05:42","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T14:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1506272"},"modified":"2022-06-07T10:05:59","modified_gmt":"2022-06-07T14:05:59","slug":"dem-rep-spent-thousands-of-tax-dollars-on-private-security-after-pushing-bill-targeting-cops-records-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dem-rep-spent-thousands-of-tax-dollars-on-private-security-after-pushing-bill-targeting-cops-records-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Dem Rep Spent Thousands Of Tax Dollars On Private Security After Pushing Bill Targeting Cops, Records Show"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdem-rep-spent-thousands-of-tax-dollars-on-private-security-after-pushing-bill-targeting-cops-records-show%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1506272&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Democratic Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who co-sponsored a sweeping bill critics argue opens law enforcement officers up to frivolous lawsuits, spent roughly $46,000 in taxpayer dollars on private security between January and March, House disbursement records reviewed by The Daily Caller News Foundation show.<\/p>\n<p>The funds were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.house.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-05\/2022q1_singlevolume.pdf\">allocated<\/a> to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and four individuals, according to House disbursement records. Dates in which \u201csecurity service\u201d is listed in the records correspond with numerous community events Jackson Lee <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JacksonLeeTX18\/status\/1482126072225452032\">posted<\/a> about on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JacksonLeeTX18\/status\/1487228497865150466\">her<\/a> Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JacksonLeeTX18\/status\/1492278974503964673\">account<\/a> \u2014 such as pop-up COVID-19 vaccination and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JacksonLeeTX18\/status\/1497646088110682112\">testing<\/a> sites hosted by the congresswoman\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[T]he Office of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is following all House protocols as it relates to these expenditures,\u201d a spokeswoman for Jackson Lee told TheDCNF.<\/p>\n<p>Each session, every member of Congress is given a Member Representation Allowance, or taxpayer dollars allocated to fund a member\u2019s offices and perform their official duties. The allowance is funded by fiscal year appropriations and is non-transferrable between legislative years, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.house.gov\/the-house-explained\/open-government\/statement-of-disbursements\/frequently-asked-questions\">according<\/a>\u00a0to the House government website.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7444815\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7444815\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, Democrat of Texas, holds up copies of the Mueller Report as she questions constitutional scholars during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the impeachment of US President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, December 4, 2019. (Photo by SAUL LOEB \/ AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Despite spending a large sum on security services, Jackson Lee has pushed to pass legislation experts say hampers the ability of law enforcement to do its job and puts a target on the back of departments.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021, the congresswoman co-sponsored the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/house-bill\/1280\">which<\/a> stalled in the Senate after passing largely along party lines. The bill lowers the criminal intent standard to convict officers for misconduct during federal prosecution and limits qualified immunity, which protects officers from civil lawsuits in situations other than when it is clear their behavior violated someone\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n<p>Qualified immunity, which was first <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/us\/386\/547\/\">introduced<\/a> through a 1967 U.S. Supreme Court case, \u201csafeguards police officers from personal lawsuits\u201d and \u201cprotects officers from malicious lawsuits that would otherwise financially cripple them and hollow out departments,\u201d Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2021\/10\/in-defense-of-qualified-immunity\/\">argued<\/a> in October 2021.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cQualified immunity is the biggest thing,\u201d Nick Gerace, a retired Philadelphia police officer and the current president of the political action committee Protect our Police, told TheDCNF. \u201cYou\u2019re going to absolutely destroy police departments across this country when you take it away.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/06\/03\/ayanna-pressley-taxpayer-dollars-private-security-house-records-defund-police\/\"><strong>(RELATED: Rep. Ayanna Pressley Has Continued To Spend Thousands Of Taxpayers Dollars On Private Security, House Records Show)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jackson Lee also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZTQWZs4A2LQ\">said<\/a> in June 2020 she wants to \u201coverhaul the complete thinking and structure\u201d of police training.<\/p>\n<p>Her\u00a0spending spree on security while taking positions Republicans argue are contrary to backing law and order came at the same time Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/06\/03\/ayanna-pressley-taxpayer-dollars-private-security-house-records-defund-police\/\">spent<\/a> $14,000 herself on security, The Daily Caller reported. The Democrat, who pushed to defund the police, spent $63,000 in 2021 on security, The Daily Caller <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/04\/19\/squad-members-defund-police-spent-thousands-private-security-protect-themselves-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-ilhan-omar-ayanna-pressley-cori-bush\/\">also<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to TheDCNF\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who co-sponsored a sweeping bill critics argue opens law enforcement officers up to frivolous lawsuits, spent roughly $46,000 in taxpayer dollars on private security<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1506272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1506272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1506272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1506272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1506272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1506272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1506272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}