A Republican lawmaker in Vermont was forced to make an apology after she was caught on camera secretly pouring water into a Democratic colleague's tote bag that was hung on a hook inside the Vermont State House.
GOP State Representative Mary Morrissey, the culprit, shockingly got away with repeating the bizarre prank for five months.
You read that correctly.
She did this for five straight months.
Her jig was up after the owner of the tote bag, Democratic Representative Jim Carroll, caught her in the act after he set up a hidden camera positioned in front of the bag near a committee coatroom.
Two videos, one dated April 23, 2024 and another on April 26, showed Morrissey pouring a glass of water into Carroll's bag and quickly walking away.
One of the videos exposing her childish misdeed of damaging his personal property went viral.
You can see a clip shared by Pop Crave, here.
On Monday after she had been caught red-handed, Morrissey publicly apologized for her “disrespectful conduct” towards her Democratic colleague.
In remarks delivered on the floor of the State House, Morrissey stated:
"I am truly ashamed for my actions."
She continued:
"I have given my sincere apology to Jim directly and publicly and will be working towards resolution and restoration through our legislative process."
“It was conduct most unbecoming of my position as a representative and as a human being and is not reflective of my 28 years of service and civility that I do value towards my colleagues."
She said in closing:
“I hope Jim, my legislative colleagues, all of our statehouse staff and those who work in this building, and the citizens of Vermont can forgive me for my poor judgment and actions and allow me to take the necessary steps to repair what I have done."
Video shows Rep. Morrissey pouring water into lawmaker's bagyoutu.be
Dumbfounded social media users weighed in.
Carroll responded to Morrissey's statement with his own, saying:
“To Representative Morrissey, I hear the sincerity in your voice and I got to be quite frank with you, and the body and our constituents and the people of Vermont."
“For five months, I went through this, and each time — each day that I went through this — Representative Morrissey had a choice to make."
"And each time that she didn’t choose to either drop it or to come to me and say, ‘Look I’m sorry, we screwed up. Let’s put our heads together and try to serve our constituents the way they ought to be, and for that, I’m really sorry and sad that that happened.'"
“But frankly, you know, after five months of that — and it was...it was torment, there’s no doubt about it, with me anyway — there’s going to be some work to be done between the two of us and that first time that we sit down together, it’s going to be kind of awkward, but we have to start somewhere, so thank you."
Carroll said he was approached by multiple members of the media who requested him to release the videos, but he was insistent on the fact that he was initially reluctant to make them public because he believed they would "deeply embarrass" Morrissey.
He told local media outlets:
“However, it has become clear to me that the media are aware of the details of Representative Morrissey’s behavior, and likely will continue to report on that behavior in the near future."
Carroll said he thought “continued withholding of the video would not only subject me to more amplified media criticism, litigation and continued warnings of more litigation to follow."
He added:
"As there is already a story in the news, I believe it is only right that I release the video to be fully transparent to my constituents and all Vermonters.”
Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski told NBC5 that Carroll informed her about the incident and she met with both representatives to discuss the video evidence showing Morrissey's stunt.
According to the outlet, Krowinski said Morrissey was no longer eligible to be appointed to conference committees.
Krowinski also recommended that Carroll contact the House Ethics Panel and request a review and investigation of the bag-soaking incidents.
She also noted that if there were any actions taken as a result of the panel's decision, they would remain undisclosed due to confidentiality requirements.