House Democrats threatened Republican lawmakers with rarely used ethics violations for trying to enter closed-door impeachment proceedings.

The threat came after Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee were ejected from the room after entering without authorization.

They wanted access, arguing the witness, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper, is under the Armed Services panel’s jurisdiction.

“Now we are being threatened with ethics violations,” Rep. Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican, said after leaving the room. “We, as sitting members of Congress, with jurisdiction over the witness, and over military aid, are being threatened.”

The group of Armed Services panel lawmakers was in the second set of Republicans to try to gain access to the closed-door proceeding on Wednesday.

Armed Services is not among a trio of panels House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has sanctioned to oversee the impeachment proceeding.

[Previous coverage: GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz ejected from closed-door impeachment meeting]

When the uninvited Republicans entered the room, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who is overseeing the proceeding, got up and left, and took Cooper, the witness, with him. Partisan bickering then ensued before the GOP interlopers were escorted out.

“We simply very calmly walked into the room, sat down, and were ready to hear the proceedings,” Waltz said. “Adam Schiff got up and left — with the witness.”

Republicans who are not members of the three panels do not have access to transcripts of the testimony, they said.

“I’ve been asking to see the Sondland transcript for days,” said Rep. Bradley Byrne, an Alabama Republican, referring to the closed-door testimony provided two weeks ago by U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland.

The GOP lawmakers said leaders in both parties are discussing the Republican complaints and how to resolve them with some kind of compromise on access.

Lawmakers almost never file ethics complaints, particularly across party lines.

“This witness is an official from the Department of Defense,” Byrne said, referring to Cooper. “They said if you stay in here, we are going to file an ethics complaint against you.

“That shows it is a sham. They try to weaponize our ethics system against us when we try to exercise our authority.”