BREAKING: GET AN OFFICER! MAGA Rep. Andy Harris threatens to have a reporter PROSECUTED for recording him in public – then storms off when she calls him out on the law!
Maryland Republican Andy Harris had a spectacularly bad night Tuesday, and it ended with the congressman demanding police intervention because a journalist dared to record him answering questions.
“You do not have my permission to record,” Harris snapped at Cat Murphy, a reporter for Capital News Service, during a press scrum following a testy debate with Democratic challenger Dan Schwartz.
“If you record, we will refer you to the prosecutor.”
Murphy pointed out that practically every other journalist surrounding the congressman was recording.
“We are in a two-party state. You are not allowed to record,” Harris insisted. When Murphy asked why she was being singled out, he replied, “Because I refuse to give you permission to do recording.”
Then came this embarrassing exchange for the smug incumbent.
“Do you know the law?” Harris demanded.
“Are you a lawyer?” another reporter asked.
“Yeah, actually, I'm a legislator,” Harris replied. “I actually know the law well.”
Not that well, evidently. Maryland's two-party consent requirement applies to private conversations where participants have a reasonable expectation of privacy. It does NOT give politicians blanket authority to prohibit journalists from recording public exchanges.
Capital News service is run by the University of Maryland's School of Journalism and Murphy is a student reporter who had a legitimate question about Harris' remark that the war in Iran could have gone more smoothly.
Instead, Harris demanded police intervention.
“She is violating the law,” he whined. “In fact, get an officer in here!”
“Sir, we're in public,” Murphy reminded him.
“It makes no difference whatsoever,” Harris fumed.
“Congressman, you said that you supported the First Amendment,” Murphy asked. “What does this say about that?”
Harris took a page from Trump's blame-others playbook.
“She's ruining all your chances to get an answer about anything,” he told the assembled journalists before walking away.
“Thank her. Thank her profusely.”
We DO thank young Ms. Murphy who kept cool and kept asking questions. Aging incumbent Andy Harris kept trying to call the cops. She was the one doing her job fearlessly and correctly.
