It would not take 20 minutes to divert to a field 70 nm away. So the guy tried to bully his way into the airport by saying 'emergency' when no emergency existed.
But he shouldn't worry. Our airline had a pilot manager get violated by the FAA. No problem, he didn't miss a day of work.
Chief Pilot in the left seat, director of Safety flying as FO. There should have been a NOTAM for that!