U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) landed in hot water this week when it was discovered that she went to a hair appointment at a San Francisco salon that was still supposed to be closed due to local COVID-19 orders. However, that is not the only potential violation of the law committed by the speaker in the news cycle.
Congressmen Gary Palmer (AL-06) and Mike Johnson (R-LA) earlier this week quietly sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr asking him to issue an advisory opinion on whether Pelosi “committed a criminal act by destroying an official copy” of President Donald Trump’s 2020 State of the Union speech on February 4.
Palmer and Johnson are both members of Republican House leadership. Palmer chairs the Republican Policy Committee and is the fifth highest ranking GOP representative; Johnson chairs the Republican Study Committee.
Pelosi, of course, made national headlines when — at the end of the address — she ripped up the copy of the speech given to her earlier by Trump when he took his place in front of the joint session, as is custom for the president to do.
Palmer and Johnson want Barr to specifically issue an opinion on whether Pelosi, in tearing her copy of the speech in half, thus violated 18 U.S. Code § 2071.
That section of federal law reads as follows:
Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States. As used in this subsection, the term “office” does not include the office held by any person as a retired officer of the Armed Forces of the United States.
The Republican congressmen conclude their letter by noting that if Pelosi did indeed violate this specific statute, the law explicitly states that she be removed from office and “be disqualified from holding any office under the United States” moving forward.
“Nancy Pelosi’s famous tantrum on the House floor was more than disgraceful; she violated her responsibility to preserve official documents delivered to the House of Representatives,” Palmer said in a statement to Fox News.
“We ask the Attorney General to review this scandalous outburst, not simply because it offended every American, but because it set a precedent for radical politicians to hijack state events for partisan performance art and possibly break the law with, thus far, no consequence,” he added.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
