Pelosi accuses U.S. Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene of 'verbal assault'

[May 14, 2021]  By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene committed "verbal assault and abuse" against a Democratic lawmaker that may have violated ethics rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.

The Washington Post reported that two of its reporters witnessed Greene  confronting Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez following a House vote on Wednesday.

Greene already has been sanctioned  by the House for making incendiary remarks including violence against Democrats.

The newspaper reported that Greene followed Ocasio-Cortez, shouting at her and falsely accusing her of supporting "terrorists."

"I think what was reported to our office about what happened as members were leaving the floor yesterday, the verbal assault and abuse of our colleague, Congresswoman AOC," Pelosi told reporters at her weekly press conference.

With tensions already high in the U.S. Capitol following the deadly Jan. 6 attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump, Pelosi said Greene's behavior was "beneath the dignity of a person serving in the Congress of the United States and is a cause for trauma and fear among members."

Asked to comment on the incident, a Greene spokesman referred Reuters to a Greene tweet in which she wrote that the House Ethics Committee should investigate Ocasio-Cortez for placing Trump administration officials "on lists to destroy their lives and prevent future employment."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), holds her weekly press conference in the United States Capitol in Washington, U.S., May 13, 2021. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

In early February, the House voted to remove Greene from two high-profile committees because of remarks she had made that included support for violence against Democrats.

During her 2020 run for Congress, Greene's campaign issued a photo showing her with an assault rifle next to three liberal Democratic congresswomen - Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar.

Greene has voiced support for unfounded conspiracy theories including the "QAnon" one that holds that elite Democrats are part of a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles and cannibals.

She has since distanced herself from some of her remarks.

Wednesday's incident came on the same day that House Republicans booted Representative Liz Cheney from her leadership position for criticizing Trump's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone, Alexandra Hudson)

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.