A Reuters photographer covering the impeachment hearings in the House Judiciary Committee was ejected Thursday afternoon for sticking his camera places it doesn’t belong.
Congressman Matt Gaetz called the photographer out by name after Republicans busted the “journalist” during a break in the proceedings.
Congressman @mattgaetz just called out a Reuters photographer for taking pictures of members’ notes during the break. pic.twitter.com/WOfmwvHofE
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) December 12, 2019
“During the break, a Reuters photographer, Josh Roberts, approached the dais and took pictures of the notes of the desks of several of my Democratic colleagues,” the Florida Republican told the committee on the record. “We noticed that, announced it to staff, and that reporter, that photographer has been removed.
“And I would just say no member, Republican or Democrat, should be subject to that. We ought to have the opportunity to take our notes, participate in debate and have a fair discussion, substantively though.”
Rep. Mike Johnson, of Louisiana, did the honors online.
SPOTTED: While we were on the House floor voting, @CNN‘s live feed caught press photographing documents on @JudiciaryGOP desks #impeachmentDebate pic.twitter.com/MRZzQXXgGd
— Rep. Mike Johnson (@RepMikeJohnson) December 12, 2019
“SPOTTED: While we were on the House floor voting, @CNN’s live feed caught press photographing documents on @JudiciaryGOP desks #impeachmentDebate”
Video of the stunt shows the photographer speaking with another man near the dais, before looking over quickly to two nearby security guards and snapping several pictures of the papers left behind on the empty desks.
The photographer reviews the photos, then repeats the process two more times.
Later, Reuters published at least two of the photos with the cutline:
The ‘Federalist Papers’ written by the framers of the U.S. Constitution are seen sitting among other papers at the desk of House Judiciary Committee Democratic member Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) during a break as the House Judiciary Committee continues its markup of articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 12, 2019.
The documents in the photo are not legible, though one of the items is clearly The Washington Post.
The wire story that accompanied the image did not mention that Roberts was ejected from the hearing. Lieu was absent from the Thursday meeting because he’s recovering from an emergency surgery, The Epoch Times reports.
Regardless, Reuters resumed its coverage of the proceedings on Friday, when the House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment against the president.
The Democratic-controlled House committee approved charges of abuse of power and obstruction against President Trump, making it almost certain he will become the third U.S. president in history to be impeached https://t.co/VUVaMfhCaj pic.twitter.com/O520CiGeNJ
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 13, 2019
“The Democratic-controlled House committee approved charges of abuse of power and obstruction against President Trump, making it almost certain he will become the third U.S. president in history to be impeached,” Reuters tweeted Friday morning.
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