Congressman threatens reporter with potential criminal charges for recording him
Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris on Tuesday appeared to lose his cool during a gaggle with reporters, singling out a journalist and threatening her with legal consequences if she recorded him on video.
"You do not have my permission to record. If you record, we will refer you to prosecutors," Harris told the reporter in a video captured by a Baltimore Banner photojournalist following his debate against Democratic opponent Dan Schwartz in Cambridge, Maryland.
"Everyone in here is recording," responded the reporter, identified as Cat Murphy, a data reporter at Capital News Service. "Why am I not allowed to?"
"But you are not allowed to," Harris responded. "We are in a two-party state. You are not allowed to."
Harris had just left the contentious debate in which some in the audience interrupted him with laughter as he tried to blame Democrats for the high price of diesel.
"You're rude," he said angrily, pointing to a woman in the audience.
Harris, who is seeking a ninth term in the House, repeatedly referenced Maryland's all-party consent law, the Maryland Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act, which makes it unlawful for any person to "willfully intercept ... any wire, oral, or electronic communication" -- a felony subject to imprisonment for not more than five years and/or a fine of not more than $10,000.
But the law protects only private conversations, not situations such as a public official conducting a news conference with accredited journalists where the participants have no reasonable expectation of privacy, a Maryland labor and employment attorney said.
Joyce Smithey, managing partner of the Smithey Law Group in Annapolis, said Harris was "misapplying" the two-party consent law.
"A congressman speaking to journalists in a press conference has no reasonable expectation that his remarks are private," Smithey said. "Other reporters were openly recording. The fact that he expressly withheld consent from one journalist does not transform an otherwise public exchange into a private conversation. There is no basis under Maryland's two-party consent law for suggesting that the journalist was committing a crime simply by recording that exchange."
The video shows at least eight journalists participating in the gaggle with the congressman and Murphy told ABC News Wednesday she is credentialed through a gallery at the U.S. Capitol. The debate last night did not require press registration, Murphy added.
"With all due respect, this is a public forum," another reporter told Harris as the quarrel continued.
"Do you know the law?" Harris retorted, growing agitated.
"I'm not a lawyer," the journalist admitted before questioning the congressman's credentials. "Are you? You're a doctor."
"Yeah, actually, I'm a legislator," affirmed Harris, an anesthesiologist by trade. "Yeah, I actually, I actually know the law well."
When Murphy attempted to steer the clash back to her questions about U.S. military hostilities with Iran, Harris looked around for law enforcement and called for an officer.
"You said that it could have gone smoother and it could have gone better. What did you mean by that?" Murphy asked regarding the congressman's comments on Iran during the debate.
"Take her camera. You're going to take her camera. She is violating the law. In fact, get an officer in here. She's violating the law on two-party, two-party recording," Harris stammered. "We need an officer."
The unidentified reporter again spoke out in Murphy's defense, contending that Maryland's two-party consent law applied to telephone communications.
"Audio and video have to have two-party approval in Maryland," Harris insisted. "Now they may not have to have it in Washington D.C. They have to have it in Maryland. She needs my approval to record."
"We are in public," Murphy insisted.
Harris didn't wait for an officer to respond to his pleas and pushed his way out of the room.
"She's ruining all your chances to get an answer about anything," Harris bemoaned. "See y'all. Thank her. Thank -- thank her profusely!"
ABC News attempted to seek comment from Harris on Wednesday but has not received a response.
