Pelosi spokeswoman Ashley Etienne said that during the meeting, “a member commented on the level of disrespect that Lewandowski displayed at the hearing for the committee and Congress’s authority to uncover the truth. Speaker Pelosi agreed that his behavior was beyond the pale and contemptible.”
“Her comments were a critique of the witnesses’ behavior, not the handling of these hearings,” Etienne said.
“Mr. Lewandowski, your behavior in this hearing room has been completely unacceptable. It is part of a pattern of a White House desperate for the American people not to hear the truth,” Nadler said.
Lewandowski turned to then-White House official Rick Dearborn to deliver the message, who did not follow through. Dearborn told investigators that the request made him uncomfortable.
Pelosi’s comments came as some Democrats expressed disappointment that the hearing quickly devolved into a circus and didn’t offer the fact-finding narrative of the Mueller report that they hoped for. Others, however, argued that it demonstrated the depth of the White House’s efforts to stonewall their investigations.
