Wyoming Senators Respond To Capital Spy

Spying at our nation's capital?

Say it isn't so.

Both of Wyoming senators responded to a recent case of someone trying to record a private GOP meeting at the nation's capital.

Recording today is easy. Most everybody has a phone. Just set the phone to record audio and leave it someplace where it is hoped that nobody will notice.

A Maryland man was arrested on charges of secretly recording Republican senators during a private lunch this month.

The man, a 25-year-old contract employee working on the lunch staff, allegedly set his phone to record for several hours before leaving it in the room with the senators. He later returned with a police escort in an attempt to retrieve the device, only to find that one of the lawmakers had spotted it and handed it over to police, according to NBC News.

In this case, the recording device, a typical smartphone, was noticed. And it was noticed that the phone was recording.

"It’s really concerning," Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told the outlet. "Those conversations are an opportunity for senators to talk candidly about issues. So to have people on record and easily identifiable by their voices is problematic," she added.

Senate Republicans and Democrats hold weekly lunch meetings about private political party affairs.

Think of these meetings as strategy sessions.

"It was a temporary person hired on by the food service people. The phone was left in the record mode found in the food line," Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo, told NBC. "It’s very concerning."

The charges against the man were later dismissed, and he was released from custody.