Stenographer snaps, rants on House floor
Updated: 2:06 p.m. ET, 10/17/2013
Washington (CNN) – Amid all the chaos of the last-minute deal in Washington, there was an unusual moment on the House floor moments after the bill passed.
A House stenographer and well-known employee calmly took to a microphone and began screaming.
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"Do not be deceived. God shall not be mocked. A House divided cannot stand," she said, according to a House GOP aide. After a few seconds, she was escorted out by the Sergeant-at-Arms, but an audio recording by Todd Zwillich of Public Radio International captured the rest of her rant.
"He will not be mocked, He will not be mocked, (don't touch me) He will not be mocked. The greatest deception here, is that this is not one nation under God. It never was. Had it been... it would not have been... No. it would not have been... the Constitution would not have been written by Free Masons... and go against God. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve two masters. Praise be to God, Lord Jesus Christ."
House members and aides were surprised and unsettled by the scene.
"I don't know, she just snapped," said a GOP aide.
CNN's Dana Bash spoke with several staffers who knew the woman well.
"She’s a well-known person, she’s a perfectly nice person, a good colleague, somebody who’s respectable and dependable, and this is very surprising to everybody who works with her," Bash reported on air.
"The Sergeant in Arms didn’t try to stop her because she works there and that’s where she’s situated," Rep. Peter King, R-New York, told Jake Tapper. "And she actually went up behind the podium where the president speaks from. They thought she was going to hand something to the speaker, and then they realized."
Officer Shennell S. Antrobus of Capitol Police told CNN she wasn’t arrested or charged and was transported to a local area hospital by DC Fire for further evaluation.
In terms of an ongoing investigation or further action about the stenographer, Antrobus said no such action will be taken.
"There is nothing more, from our end, that we are going to do," Antrobus said.
–CNN’s Deirdre Walsh, Steve Brusk, Dan Merica and Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.
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She was speaking to the GOP.
knew her or know her, why is this all past tense?
Whoopsie! Left her meds at home did she?
Probably the result of being trampled by Ted Cruz as he was running out of the building blinded by all the tar and feathers.
The stenographer ranting is just as crazy and demented like the GOP!! She obviously works for the crazy republicans!!
Anyone surprised that a crazy person is religious? Not I, almost all crazy people cite religious voices or reasons for being the way they are. This woman should be put in front of every camera in the nation to show how crazy religious people are, especially those of the Christianity and Islam.
proof god works in mysterious ways. poor woman found herself possessed at work.
Of course someone who tells the truth will be believed to be insane or having a mental breakdown. People hate hearing the truth.
They have all lost their minds in Washington!
Oh boy, the House Stenographer is secretly a Free Masons/New World Order conspiracy theorist. That's fun.
The heated politics over the debt ceiling and default, and the debacle of a performance throughout the past few days, got to her head. It overwhelmed her.
She probably snapped because she has no name, according to the outstanding reporting above.
another rush limbaugh/glenn beck nutjob. heres a valium and a bottle of vodka, go sit in the round rubber room, please
Just a right wing nut they just crazy like that.
Was she auditioning for Carrie's mother or is she Carrie's mother?
Yet another person our government has driven over the edge.
The stenographer's sermon is the most rational speech heard on the House floor for a few years. May God bless her, her family, and her ministry.
Wow.
The pressure must have been too much.
Being that close, for that long, to that much BS, must have been toxic.
Hope she hasn't lost it completely ... .
Wow, that's actually the most interesting thing that happen from this. Too bad it's just another religious nut
At least she did not bring her gun.
Hope she is doing alright now!!!
The person probably realized how the GOP really serves themselves first. Most of the political games played by the GOP was in the end about them. They were trying to save their jobs and they cared less whom they hurt in the process.
This is what happens when politicians put themselves first over country. The GOP was struggling with the Tea Part Nuts and our Nation was hurt as result of it.
And we are setup to do all again in few weeks.
This woman is a perfect representation of the tea party....crazily ranting away while disrupting the normal proceedings of congress. I'm sure many tea party members are very nice people too when you talk to them individually, but just like this woman, some of them are so full of anger, judgment and hatred they need a psychiatric evaluation!
Good for her. I am proud of her. Hope she doesn't lose her job.
Still think talk radio is only having a bad effect on the ignorant and poorly educated?
As the wealth gap continues to grow and destroy the nation, expect more confusion and break downs from stress and denial to spread also.