Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has apparently gone full-blown Nancy Pelosi, at least temporarily.
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie said on X Tuesday that he was threatened with a $500 fine if he did not take down a video he posted of Democrats waving Ukrainian flags after the House vote to send $61 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine.
Massie said the threat came from House Sergeant at Arms William McFarland, who is responsible for security and maintaining order in the House and works under Johnson’s direction.
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“Instead of fining democrats (sic) for waving flags, the House Sergeant at Arms just called and said I will be fined $500 if I don’t delete this video post,” Massie wrote. “Mike Johnson really wants to memory hole this betrayal of America.”
X owner Elon Musk replied to Massie by asking if he really could be fined for posting the video.
Massie answered, “There’s nothing that gives them the authority to demand I remove a video from my congressional account, but they are.”
The Kentucky Republican, who is one of three GOP lawmakers seeking to remove Johnson as speaker, noted that House rules say lawmakers can be fined for taking pictures or videos on the House floor, despite the fact that those in power don’t know if he actually recorded the Democrats’ celebration.
Massie also pointed out that Democrats frequently post images from the floor, and he attached a picture of left-wing Democratic Rep. Jason Crow on the House floor smiling broadly and holding his Ukrainian flag.
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Massie also noted that for the fine to be administered, he’d have to be caught in the act of posting the video.
“Seems a bit creepy that the Sergeant at Arms would be on my X account three days later looking for an infraction,” Massie said. “And how would deleting the video undo my alleged infraction of filming on the House floor? (It wouldn’t).”
“The uniparty is big mad at me for exposing them on several votes and for asking the Speaker to resign” Massie continued. “The Speaker, his staff, or one of his allies in our conference is probably directing the Sergeant at Arms to do this.”
But Johnson apparently had a change of heart.
“Upon viewing Rep. Massie’s tweet, our team reached out to the Sergeant at Arms. I do not agree with this assessment and there will be no fine imposed on Rep. Massie,” Johnson said on X Tuesday.
Massie, who, like most Republicans, voted against aid to Ukraine, also noted in his post that he was fined when Pelosi ran the House.
That came in May 2021 when the San Francisco Democrat imposed a mask mandate among lawmakers for COVID-19. Massie was fined along with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Ralph Norman of South Carolina.
They sued and took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which two months ago declined to take the case and allowed the fines to stand.
Several Republicans criticized Democrats over the weekend for their enthusiastic response to sending tens of billions more taxpayers’ dollars to Ukraine. GOP Rep. Kat Cammack of Gainesville has filed a bill banning displays of all flags on the House floor except for the American flag.
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