Pelosi aide apologizes after accusing Ryan of cursing reporters

A top aide to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) apologized to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Tuesday after wrongly alleging that the Speaker had cursed reporters on a hot mic for being a “waste my f—ing time.” 

Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, tweeted a video of Ryan leaving a press conference on Capitol Hill. After Ryan falls off screen in the video, a voice can be heard venting frustration with the proceedings.

Hammill tweeted the video claiming it was Ryan who made the incendiary remark. The video quickly spread across social media.

Was this really Paul Ryan saying talking to reporters was a “waste of my fucking time” https://t.co/mw4dPFvUmc

— Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) January 31, 2017

{mosads}Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong ripped Hammill over Twitter, saying it was clear from the video that Ryan was not the person who made the offending remark.

You should be ashamed of yourself. That was clearly a reporter next to the mic. Delete your account. https://t.co/MGbbTWRq8B

— AshLee Strong (@AshLeeStrong) January 31, 2017

Hammill has apologized and removed the tweet. The identity of the voice on the audio feed, meanwhile, remains unknown.

.@BrendanBuck tells me that was not his boss. Will take his word for it and I apologized.

— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) January 31, 2017