Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) may have settled his legal troubles involving his decision to pull a fire alarm at a U.S. Capitol office building.
However, questions about the incident are not going away.
On Thursday, CNN’s Manu Raju caught up with the Democrat and asked, “Why’d you plead guilty to knowingly pulling a fire alarm when… you initially told all of us you didn’t know it was a fire alarm?”
“Why are you still talking about this, man?” Bowman asked.
He insisted, “That’s behind me, that’s been adjudicated, that’s done, paid the fine, moved forward — and in three months it’ll be dismissed.”
Undeterred, Raju pressed, “But you weren’t straight about what happened initially.”
“I was very straight. I was straight from the very beginning,” Bowman shot back.
Watch the video below:
REPORTER: Why'd you plead guilty to knowingly pulling a fire alarm when you said you didn't know it was a fire alarm?
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 3, 2023
JAMAAL BOWMAN: "Why are we still talking about this, man?"
REPORTER: "You weren't straight about what happened!"
BOWMAN: "I was very straight!" pic.twitter.com/tdNbhcnaSo
Raju said, “But you said you didn’t know?”
“I was straight from the beginning,” Bowman insisted.
Bowman pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor charge after he pulled a fire alarm in an office building near the Capitol.
He was required to pay a $1,000 fine and write an apology to the Capitol Police.
The New York congressman initially said he did not know he was pulling a fire alarm and claimed he thought it would unlock a door so he could exit the building.
However, footage released late last month showed him removing warning signs before pulling the fire alarm.
🚨 NEW FOOTAGE: Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman removes warning signs before pulling the fire alarm in a House office building last month pic.twitter.com/dhwOQN2G6y
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 26, 2023
After his guilty plea, he stated, “What I did was against D.C. law.”