Cory Booker staffer arrested for allegedly carrying pistol without license at Capitol
The United States Capitol Police said in a statement, "Yesterday afternoon, a Member of Congress led an ID'ed staff member around security screening at the Hart Senate Office Building."
"Later that evening, outside the Senate Galleries, the IDed staff member — who is a retired law enforcement officer — told our officers he was armed."
"The staff member, 59-year-old Kevin A. Batts of New Jersey, was arrested for Carrying a Pistol Without a License. All weapons are prohibited from Capitol Grounds, even if you are a retired law enforcement officer, or have a permit to carry in another state or the District of Columbia," the statement continued.
Batts is listed as a "Special Assistant" to Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., on Legistorm, a research entity that routinely updates salaries and information about lawmakers and their staff.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Booker spokesperson Jeff Giertz said, "Senator Booker's office employs a retired Newark police detective as a New Jersey-based driver who often accompanies him to events. We are working to better understand the circumstances around this."
In 2016, Booker shared a video of Batts on social media, who he identified as a former detective in Newark. At the time, Batts said he had worked for either the city of Newark or Booker's office for 28 years.
"Kevin Batts has been a friend and team member since 2006 when I became mayor and even before. I so deeply appreciate his steadfast friendship, incredible dedication to Newark and now his service to the state. Kevin was raised in Columbus Homes projects in Newark, then spent 6 years in the United States army reserves and then joined the Newark Police Department and became a detective in 2004. In 2006, he joined my security detail as a member of Newark's executive protection unit. In 2013 he joined my Senate staff. I am truly blessed by his friendship and loyal hard work," the senator wrote on Instagram.
Booker also mentioned Batts in a 2017 commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania. "And as I told my driver, an incredible officer named Kevin Batts, retired from the Newark Police Department, joined my staff because of our friendship and our bond, I said to him "Kev, we're almost home but do you mind? We have to swing through the drive-thru …," he said.
Batts' arrest comes as Booker continues to break records for one of the longest floor speeches in American Senate history.
The senator, who began speaking Monday night, now holds the fourth-longest Senate floor speeches, recently surpassing Sen. Robert La Follette, R-Wis., who spoke for 18 hours and 23 minutes in 1908.
Next up is the record held by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, whose speech against Obamacare in 2013 went on for 21 hours and 19 minutes.
The record holder is Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes against a civil rights bill in 1957.
If Booker continues to speak, he will break Thurmond's record around 7:19 pm Eastern time on Tuesday night.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
17 minutes ago
- The Hill
GOP congressman suggests he'd ‘lose money and go broke' if advisers stop stock trades
Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) dismissed the idea of directing his financial advisers to halt any stock trades amid his difficulties in establishing a blind trust that meets his standards, suggesting he would 'lose money and go broke.' Bresnahan, who has come under heat for continuing stock trades carried out by his advisers despite writing in support of banning congressional stock trades while campaigning for his seat, made the comment in an interview with local public news organization WVIA that was published Thursday. While Bresnahan said he has not been involved with the stock trades directed by his financial advisers, the outlet noted that he could order his advisers to stop trading stocks. 'And then do what with it?' Bresnahan told WVIA. 'Just leave it all in the accounts and just leave it there and lose money and go broke?' Bresnahan, a businessman whose net worth is estimated to be in the multi-millions, has said he would like to form a blind trust that would block him from having any control or knowledge of trades made on his behalf. But Bresnahan said he wants to use his existing financial advisers and wants to instruct the trustee to avoid investments that benefit foreign adversaries and avoid shorting American companies — running into problems with the House Ethics Committee. 'So, you would have to then find someone else that would even consider taking you to manage through a trustee account,' Bresnahan told WVIA. 'So, it became a disaster.' Last week, Bresnahan's lawyer sent a letter to the House Ethics committee saying that the Pennsylvania congressman prohibited his advisers from those types of investments or trades, the Washington Examiner reported. The letter also said Bresnahan is not consulted about any trade and is informed of trades only after they are complete. Bresnahan has also introduced a bill to ban stock trading for members of Congress and their spouses, and is open to working with other members on the issue. Still, Bresnahan has caught heat for being an active trader in Congress. The New York Times in April brought attention to Bresnahan continuing to trade despite writing a letter to the editor in The Citizens' Voice local newspaper in 2024 calling to ban congressional stock trading. The contrast between Bresnahan's statement during the campaign and his continued stock trades has made the freshman swing-district congressman a top target of Democrats hoping to win back the seat in 2026. 'Multi-millionaire Rob Bresnahan is full of shit,' Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Spokesperson Eli Cousin said in a statement in response to the WVIA interview. 'He campaigned on a promise to ban congressional stock trading, but is now saying that he must continue his prolific trading in order to prevent himself from going broke. He doesn't care about his constituents – he only cares about his bottom line.' Bresnahan's spokesperson Hannah Pope fired back by pointing to trades reported in former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) financial disclosures. 'Rep. Bresnahan was a small business owner before becoming a Member of Congress, and unlike the DCCC's long-time benefactor, prolific stock trader Nancy Pelosi, he does not plan on being a Member of Congress for the rest of his career. He does not trade his own stocks and is unaware of what is traded or when,' Pope said in a statement. The trades reported by Pelosi that have garnered scrutiny were made by her husband Paul Pelosi, according to the disclosures, and Pelosi has thrown her support behind an effort to ban stock trading by members of Congress. Bresnahan's spokesperson continued: 'He believes Members of Congress should not be allowed to profit off the information they are entrusted with, which is why he introduced legislation to ban Congressional stock trading, restoring the integrity Americans expect and deserve from their government. As a Member of Congress, his number one focus will always be the people of Pennsylvania's Eighth Congressional District.' Bresnahan's comments come as legislative action on stock trading bans heat up. A Senate committee this week advanced a bill to ban congressional stock trading, and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) has pledged to file a discharge petition to try to force a vote on a bill to ban stock trading in the House.
The Hill
17 minutes ago
- The Hill
Slotkin says she would have voted to block arms sales to Israel
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said Thursday that she would have voted to block arms sales to Israel over hunger in Gaza after missing a series of Senate votes Wednesday night to appear on Stephen Colbert's show. The Michigan senator said she was worried about the lack of food and medicine entering Gaza, and that 'images of emaciated children are hard to turn away from.' 'Should similar votes on offensive weapons come up in the future, I will take them on a case-by-case basis, with the hope of important humanitarian course corrections,' she wrote in a lengthy statement on X. 'While the leaders of Hamas deserve what they're getting in response to October 7, and Israel — like any other country in the world — has the right to defend itself, that doesn't include letting children go hungry.' The resolutions, sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), would have blocked more than $675 million in weapons sales to Israel, and barred another transfer of tens of thousands of assault rifles. They were resoundingly defeated in the Senate, although a record number of Democrats — more than half the caucus — voted in favor. The votes came amidst growing worry in the Democratic caucus over what the United Nations termed 'mounting evidence of famine and widespread starvation' in Gaza, where Israel's war is nearing its two-year mark. President Trump has also expressed concern with the situation, acknowledging earlier this week that there was 'real starvation' in the territory. Slotkin, who is Jewish, served three tours in Iraq as a CIA analyst in the early 2000s. She said in her statement that her experience in the Middle East showed her that aid could be safely distributed in complex war zones. '[E]ven in the most violent years of the war, the U.S. still had the responsibility to facilitate humanitarian supplies into places like Fallujah,' she wrote. 'And militaries that can pull off dangerous and complex operations overseas can also ensure aid is safely distributed in occupied areas.' Slotkin also said that the conduct of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had significantly undermined the country's standing among American lawmakers, writing that he had threatened 'the longstanding bipartisan consensus that have helped keep Israel safe since its inception.' Still, Slotkin appeared to garner criticism from fellow Michigander Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D), the only Palestinian-American in Congress. 'Shame on every senator who voted to continue arming the Israeli apartheid regime or didn't even have the courage to show up and vote,' the representative wrote on X. Michigan is home to one of the largest populations of Arab Americans in the country and was the epicenter of backlash during the 2024 election against the Biden administration's support of Israel.
Boston Globe
17 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Trump isn't done with the judiciary
But now that he is a part of a conservative supermajority, he seems pleased as punch. He is the first (due to deference given to him by his colleagues) to ask questions during each argument and is generally much more engaged. I'd say he's even less likely to retire than he was a decade ago. Advertisement Same for Justice Samuel Alito, 75, who hasn't shown any sign of wanting to slow down after authoring his career-defining decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Still, it should come as no surprise that Trump is making a list and checking it twice in the event he has an opportunity to add more justices to the high court. One-third of the court is already made up of Trump appointees. But according to a Advertisement Of course he is, as any president would be. But while the Time piece focuses on those in Trump's circle seeking a conservative's conservative to add to the court, I suspect another qualification is top of mind for Trump: loyalty. Many within MAGA — including Trump, reportedly — have become disillusioned with Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Even though she is a reliably conservative vote on the court, the few times she broke with her fellow GOP-appointed colleagues have reportedly Which is where people like Bove might come in. Having served as Trump's personal criminal defense attorney and then helped shape the Department of Justice in Trump's image, he's the Roy Cohn-type Trump will find hard to resist, especially now that he's been confirmed to a seat on the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Other names mentioned in the Time piece include conservative federal appellate Judges Raymond Kethledge, Amul Thapar, and Andrew Oldham. There is also Judge Aileen Cannon, who drew attention for seemingly placing a thumb on Trump's side of the scale in the criminal case against him for mishandling classified documents — a case she ultimately dismissed. Though Cannon hasn't been on the bench long, I don't count her out given Trump's loyalty requirement. And adding Trump's fondness (like many presidents) for making historic news, I also place high on the list Judges Neomi Rao and James Ho, which would allow Trump to install the first ever Asian American justice. Advertisement But Trump, most of all, wishes for a court full of Cohns to do his bidding. And I can't think of anyone who fits that bill more than the Senate-confirmed Bove. Watch this space. This is an excerpt from , a newsletter about the Supreme Court from columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Kimberly Atkins Stohr is a columnist for the Globe. She may be reached at
