Nancy Mace: Opening Statement To U.S. House Oversight Committee

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by NANCY MACE

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Editor’s Note: What follows are the remarks of S.C. first district congresswoman Nancy Mace as prepared for delivery before the U.S. House Oversight Committee on May 20, 2025. We published an on-the-record response from her former fiancée, Patrick Bryant, in a subsequent article.

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Liberty begins with the right to close a door. A hidden camera kicks that door off its hinges.

The Constitution’s Fourth Amendment enshrines a “reasonable expectation of privacy”. Yet today, that freedom is violated by secret cameras and hidden devices to record women and girls with impunity.

Freedom is not a theory; it is the right to breathe, to dress and undress, to sleep without someone’s camera filming your naked body. The Founders wrote liberty in parchment; hidden cameras erase it in pixels.

I speak not just as a lawmaker, but as a survivor. Starting on November 5, 2023, I discovered my former fiancé, Patrick Bryant, had filmed women without their knowledge, without their permission and without their consent.

He filmed rape too.

He appeared to catalogue the footage in the way he saved the files. And he stored these images for years.

This isn’t just creepy. It’s criminal—but only under weak state laws.

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In South Carolina, first-time voyeurs face a misdemeanor and a small $500 fine. That’s not justice. That’s betrayal.

Real men guard a woman’s privacy; predators harvest it.

When predators install covert cameras or forge explicit images, they do not invade a room, they invade a life, and that life deserves more than a misdemeanor.

Exhibit 1: A screenshot of my naked silhouette—filmed in secret. The camera sat silent, yet it screamed my safety was negotiable and my dignity disposable.

Exhibit 2: An image of the building where women were recorded.

Exhibit 3: Screenshot. Just one camera I found had 10,633 videos saved on it at one point.

Exhibit 4: Evidence Bryant was transferring data off his phone—thousands of files.

Exhibit 5: A short-term rental agreement for the property where women were filmed.

Exhibit 6: Rape victim image (with her face blurred, and with her permission).

Exhibit 7: Various images of women filmed and photographed without their knowledge, their bodies redacted to protect their identity. I discovered up to four recording devices.

In one series of upskirt photos, he saved for almost ten years.

He seemed to have certain fetishes of the women he catalogued: as they stood at the end of his bed undressed, sexual intercourse in very specific places in front of his hidden camera, and in specific positions, while they were changing, genital areas of women at the beach and pool, and at least one rape victim while she was unconscious.

He would even save a headshot of the victim next to a series of images of their private parts.

These weren’t accidents. They were premeditated. Planned. Filmed. Stored. Meticulously Organized. Catalogued. Private hidden folder. For YEARS.

I would learn after finding these images, and speaking to potential victims, Bryant allegedly raped at least three women.

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At least two potential victims told me they once saw one of his cameras and he denied he was recording.

We face an enemy that records first and apologizes never.

When I spoke up, Bryant didn’t apologize. He retaliated.

In fact, Patrick Bryant has started the process of suing his victims. Myself included.

So let me be crystal clear: I won’t be intimidated. And I won’t back down, not for myself, and absolutely not for the women he violated for YEARS.

Predators like Patrick Bryant don’t ask permission, and neither should justice. A hidden camera does not erase liberty and doesn’t deserve a slap on the wrist.

Justice also does not crawl out of a plea deal, it arrives in a sentence that fits the crime and restores the victim.

Justice should come in the form of real sentences, real fines, and real protection for victims.

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That’s why I introduced:

The Sue VOYEURS Act, which creates a civil right of action for victims.

The Stop VOYEURS Act, which expands the narrow federal prohibition on video voyeurism.

Secret recordings thrive in the shadows. These bills drag them into broad daylight.

Liberty is not theory—it’s the right to undress in peace. To live unrecorded. Without being filmed while naked.

Let’s make sure the law reflects that truth. We need laws with teeth. We need survivors with standing. And we need to leave predators with nowhere left to hide.

Today, I choose daylight. I invite every member of this House to step into that light with me, to pass these bills, and to prove that in the digital age liberty still lives where Americans stand as our forefathers promised.

I encourage other potential victims to come forward. Potential victims may contact SLED’s lead investigator directly at: Haley Nelson, hnelson@sled.sc.gov.

A tipline also remains active with the Congresswoman’s office at 843-212-7048 for those who believe they may have been recorded, assaulted, or otherwise victimized by these predators.

I would run through a brick wall to protect women and girls in South Carolina.

To other potential victims, I want you to know, “I have your back."

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR...

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Nancy Mace represents South Carolina's first congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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