In a phone interview with The Examiner, the staffer, press secretary George Burke, said that claims that he had "pushed" Christoph were untrue. When asked about the report in TownHall, he replied, "Is that a reporter? Some right-wing blog?" Yes to both questions, but was the claim true?
"She came in and whipped out a camera. Staff people told her, 'we don't want you to use a camera in here.' I put a hand on her shoulder same way I put on my daughter's and of course she said that she was going to the media," he said.
The scuffle started when Christoph joined a number of Connolly's constituents in his office. A younger staffer was distributing pens to enable them to leave a message for their congressman. Christoph, Burke said, had started "badgering" the staffer, preventing him from being able to further help other constituents.
"Voices were raised, so I came out of my office and told her politely to put away the camera," he said. "I didn't even ask her to leave. Just to put away the camera."
I asked what the policy was about having cameras in the office. "Only credentialed media. And I'm sure you know about the rules in the House regarding credentialed press," he replied. Were media cameras allowed into the office? "Yes, throughout the day." But what was the impetus about having her remove her own camera? "It was a decision we made. There was no reasoning behind it."
At Smart Girl Politics, Teri posted the video below. She's clearly not badgering the young staffer, as alleged by Burke.
She writes:
As you can see, the young staffer was a bit nervous, but polite. George Burke, who can be seen behind the young man, is anything but. He immediately treated me — his EMPLOYER! — as his enemy. The camera stopped recording when Mr. Burke decided to physically stop it. Let me be clear (if I can borrow the President’s words), I am a female, making a call on a Representative by myself! George Burke, a man who surely knows better, treated me with the kind of arrogant disdain so typical of liberals. These Democrats on Capitol Hill have without question lost sight of the fact that are beholden to us, the American people. There are a many more George Burke’s out there, smugly sitting in their offices with nothing but contempt for us regular folk. This was a big wake up call for me about how truly ugly the Democrats are — and I still don’t know a thing about Congressman Gerry Connolly’s position on health care.During the summer town hall meetings, Congressman Connolly made claim which he did not prove, that a Congressman was attacked by angry constituents. Connolly also did not hold open town halls, except in gated retirement communities. The arrogant Connolly, when he was chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, also publicly attacked opponents of the Islamic Saudi Academy as slanderous bigots.
If Christoph is proven true, then perhaps Connolly needs to look at his own liberal constituency, namely his own staff, who are the violent ones.
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