A Republican lawmaker in Vermont apologized on Monday after she repeatedly poured water into a Democratic colleague’s bag over a period of five months.
State Rep. Mary Morrissey (R) apologized to state Rep. Jim Carroll (D), colleagues and the citizens of Vermont during a speech on the House floor on Monday. Both lawmakers represent Burlington, Vt.
“I am truly ashamed for my actions,” Morrissey said. “I have given my sincere apology to Jim directly and publicly and will be working towards resolution and restoration through our legislative process.”
Carroll told The Associated Press that for five months he found his tote bag, which he hangs in a hallway at the Statehouse, soaking wet.
Carroll says he first suspected Morrissey as she had been “nasty” to him for several months and would “say demeaning things in front of other legislators,” despite them knowing each other since childhood.
He decided to place a small camera near a committee coat room to confirm his suspicions.
The camera captured Morrissey pouring water from a glass into the bag on April 23 and April 26.
On Monday, Carroll said he “heard the sincerity” in Morrissey voice after her apology, but described those months where he would find his bag wet as “torment.”
“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,’” he said.
“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.
