Pelosi Aide: McNulty Closed Disputed Vote On His Own

Wed. May 14, 2008


An aide to House Speaker Pelosi said today she did not remember instructing Rep. Michael McNulty, D-N.Y., to close the vote on a motion to recommit on the FY08 Agriculture appropriations bill last Aug. 2, when he was acting as speaker pro tem. The aide, Catlin O'Neill, told the House Select Committee on Voting Irregularities that, upon reviewing a video of the contested vote, she believed McNulty was "calling the vote on his own." McNulty made the same assertion Tuesday, when the hearing began. Republicans maintain they could have won that vote, which McNulty incorrectly announced as a tie. O'Neill said she also had no recollection that House Majority Leader Hoyer told McNulty to close the vote. Hoyer testified Tuesday he did so but that McNulty did not hear him. O'Neill said the only interactions she had with McNulty on the tape were to tell him that there was a certain amount of time left on the vote.

O'Neill's statement countered allegations by Republicans, including the select committee's ranking member, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., that McNulty called the vote under pressure from Democratic leadership. Jay Pierson, a floor aide to House Minority Leader Boehner, said he called McNulty's assertion that he closed the vote so quickly to enforce a House rule "a stretch," even thought he had no specific memory of pressure being put on McNulty. Pierson added that he though it was odd that McNulty, whom Republicans have praised as one of the best presiding officers, would decide for once not to use an official vote tally sheet. "I can't read [McNulty's] mind," Pierson said. "He always used the slip. He didn't."

Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., questioned why Republicans have turned their focus to the exchanges among McNulty, Hoyer and O'Neill even though there was no evidence "whatsoever" that McNulty was prodded to close the vote. Davis repeatedly pointed out that neither Hoyer nor O'Neill was anywhere near McNulty when he banged the gavel. But Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, criticized "the argument that because we cannot see Steny Hoyer in the frame ... that therefore he had nothing to do with it." Taking a more conciliatory tone, Select Committee on Voting Irregularities Chairman William Delahunt, D-Mass., said he still had "some hope that we're going to reach a consensus."

by Andy Leonatti