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Pelosi staffer left with egg on his face after calling reporter’s scoop on resignation ‘complete trash’

November 18, 2022 | | Print Article

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi evidently left her staff in the dark about her plans to step back from her leadership position, leaving one with egg on his face after attacking initial reports by Puck.

Puck’s Tara Palmeri broke the story hours before Pelosi made her Thursday speech informing the public that she would remain in Congress as a representative of California but would not seek re-election to lead the Democratic Caucus.

“The longtime Democratic leader, a fixture of the House for decades, will step back into a chairman-like role in the minority rather than retire immediately, giving her time to manage her succession and ensure the stability of her caucus through the forthcoming McCarthy era,” Palmeri wrote.

Palmeri said Pelosi was looking to the next generation of leader in Hakeem Jefferies, to which her Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill flatly denied, beginning a Twitter campaign against the Puck reporter.

“Nothing in this reporting is correct,” said Hammill. “As the Speaker just stated yesterday on national TV, she will make a decision once all the votes have been counted. She’s not even thinking about her future at this moment.”

Palmeri included Hammill’s denials in her reporting, balancing her sources against the staff opinion, but that was not enough to satisfy the congresswoman’s deputy chief.

Hammill went on to attack the reporting, claiming Palmeri has “has zero sourcing in Pelosi world but is constantly trying to break news nevertheless. Since she rarely includes my responses, I’ll go ahead & tweet before she posts as yet again nothing in her reporting is correct.”

While it appears everything in her reporting was correct, Hammill didn’t stop there.

“I don’t know who reads @PuckNews let alone pays for it, but I wanted to get ahead of@tarapalmeri‘s latest typo-ridden Pelosi scoop to let everyone know that it’s complete trash just like the last ones. That’s all,” Hammill tweeted.

Palmeri seemed to delight in Hammill’s tantrum, responding, “touched a nerve.”

The Twitter fight continued with Hammill doubling down that his “favorite reporter” is without sources in the Pelosi-sphere.

“Anybody who tells you they know what she will do is a liar,” Hammill said.

Palmeri took the opportunity to dig at Pelosi’s lapdog, reiterating that she is more privy to the Speaker’s moves than her staff.

“You’re right Drew, her staff doesn’t know,” Palmeri responded.

To which Hammill fired back, “And you don’t either.”

The exchange didn’t age well for Hammill as Pelosi took the floor Thursday, confirming the reporter’s assertions.

“In my 35 years in the House, I have seen this body grow more reflective of our great nation, our beautiful nation. When I came to Congress in 1987, there were 12 Democratic women. Now there are over 90. And we want more. Yeah. The new members of our Democratic caucus will be about 75% women, people of color, and LGBTQ. And we have brought more voices to the decision-making table,” Pelosi said during her speech on the floor.

“There is no greater official honor for me than to stand on this floor and to speak for the people of San Francisco. This I will continue to do as a member of the House, speaking for the people of San Francisco, serving the great state of California, and defending our Constitution and with great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” she said.

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