Social media users quickly blasted the justice system after it was announced that a Democratic Senate staffer who filmed a pornographic sex scene in a Capitol Hill hearing room will not face charges.
“Let me get this straight… merely walking through the capitol unauthorized is a felony,” Real Clear Investigations Senior Writer Mark Hemingway posted on X. “But having public sex in the building, filming it, and putting it online doesn’t merit a public lewdness charge?”
“Please tell why I am supposed to respect rule of law in this country.”
The U.S. Capitol Police announced on Thursday they have declined to press charges following the filming of a “sex video that was recorded inside the Hart Senate Office Building on the morning of Wednesday, December 13.
Hart Senate Office Building Room 216 is set up for the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court justice nominee Amy Coney Barrett before Monday’s Senate Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. (Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“After consulting with federal and local prosecutors, as well as doing a comprehensive investigation and review of possible charges, it was determined that — despite a likely violation of Congressional policy — there is currently no evidence that a crime was committed,” the agency said in a statement to Fox News.
“The Congressional staffer, who has since resigned from his job, exercised his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and refused to talk to us,” authorities also said. “Our investigators are willing to review new evidence should any come to light.”
A staff member for Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., was eventually fired over the video.
“Jacob Chansley spent 310 days in solitary before he took a plea deal then was sentenced to 41 months in prison for saying a prayer in the Senate chamber,” author Julie Kelly posted on X.
“It is officially legal to have recorded sex in US Senate hearing room,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton posted on X.
NSFW: CAPITOL HILL ROCKED BY SEX TAPE SCANDAL FEATURING FAMOUS SENATE HEARING ROOM
The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)
“OH COME ON,” Federalist Co-Founder Sean Davis posted on X.
“Beyond parody,” GOP comms consultant Steve Guest posted on X.
“Of course,” Newsbusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck posted on X. “Democrats can do just about anything without consequences.”
Several legal experts, including George Washington University Law professor Jonathan Turley, weighed in at the time of the incident and said the staffer could be charged.
In a blog post, Turley discussed possible charges that could be brought. Turley said, “the question is whether this unofficial use would constitute trespass.”
“It also uses an official area for personal purposes, though it is not clear if there were any commercial benefits garnered from the video found on various sites,” Turley wrote.
Turley said one possible charge could fall under D.C. code section 22-1312, which discusses lewd, indecent, or obscene acts.
U.S. Capitol Police secure the U.S. Capitol Building in response to a call for a “Day of Rage” on Oct. 13, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“It is unlawful for a person, in public, to make an obscene or indecent exposure of his or her genitalia or anus, to engage in masturbation, or to engage in a sexual act as defined in § 22-3001(8). It is unlawful for a person to make an obscene or indecent sexual proposal to a minor. A person who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01, imprisoned for not more than 90 days, or both,” the criminal code states.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
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