Maryland Rep. Andy Harris clashes with student reporter
A video taken by News4’s partners at the Baltimore Banner shows Republican Congressman Andy Harris telling a student reporter from the University of Maryland that she did not have permission to record him.
“You do not have my permission to record. If you record, we will refer you to the prosecutor,” Harris told the student reporter.
“Everyone in here is recording,” the student reporter said.
“But you are not allowed to,” Harris said. “We are in a two-party state.”
The exchange went on for several minutes.
The reporter then tried to ask his thoughts on the Iran war.
“You said that it could’ve gone smoother and it could’ve gone better. What did you mean by that?” the reporter asked.
“You’re gonna have to take her camera,” Harris said. “She is violating the law. In fact, get an officer in here.”
But what does the law actually say?
“Well, the overarching consideration at any time is whether there is what we call a reasonable expectation of privacy in the situation,” said Kevin Goldberg with the Freedom Forum, a nonprofit that supports the First Amendment.
He pointed out two-party consent laws wouldn’t apply here because Harris was speaking to a group of reporters in a public space.
“If a reporter has a right to be in a space and work as a reporter, they cannot be denied that right simply because somebody doesn’t like the coverage or somebody doesn’t like the questions or somebody doesn’t like their viewpoint,” Goldberg said.
This was how Harris’ conversation with the reporters eventually ended”
“Congressman, you said that you supported the first amendment — what does this say about that?” the reporter asked.
“Alright guys, she’s ruining your chance to get an answer about anything. See y’all. Thank her profusely,” Harris replied.
News4 reached out to Harris’ office for comment but has not heard back.
Harris’ Democratic opponent Dan Schwartz released a statement saying, in part, “The message of the night was clear, Andy Harris is out of touch, out of practice talking to voters, and much more interested in picking fights and spinning his story than offering real answers.”
