House stenographer Dianne Reidy denies 'losing mind' or 'having breakdown'
Stenographer who went on rant at end of government shutdown debate in House denies 'losing her mind' or 'having a breakdown'
- Dianne Reidy started yelling about God's message and the Constitution shortly after the debt ceiling vote in the House of Representatives last Oct
- Mother of two has since been fired
- She and her husband have released rambling YouTube video in which she says that the spirit of the lord had spoken to her
41
View
comments
The House stenographer who had to be dragged out of the chamber last October after a religious rant at the end of the government shutdown debate has released a video statement in which she says that she didn’t ‘lose her mind’ or ‘have a breakdown’.
Dianne Reidy, who has since been fired, said the spirit of the Lord had spoken through her, telling her in advance that she was going to speak somewhere in the House chamber during the big vote.
The YouTube video released on Saturday is the 48-year-old’s first public statement since the bizarre incident brought an end to the televised vote to reopen the government after a shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.
Scroll down for video
Dianne Reidy, who has since been fired, said the spirit of the Lord had spoken through her, telling her in advance that she was going to speak somewhere in the House chamber during the big vote
Outburst: Dianne Reidy is forcibly removed from the House chamber after her about God and the Freemasons
The 38-minute YouTube video features Reidy, together with her husband Dan, sitting on a couch with a single page of notes.
Dan speaks for the first couple of minutes, citing several Bible verses. He said the video is to ‘explain what took place in Dianne’s life and our lives last fall.’
Dianne Reidy then speaks about her recollections of the incident.
RELATED ARTICLES
Ben Carson emerges as sleeper threat in N.H. Republican... 
Founder of Westboro Baptist Church is 'on the edge of death'...
Female teacher, 31, faces up to seven years behind bars for...
Share this article
Share‘I remember getting up to the podium and after saying, “God will not be mocked.” I don’t have a memory of anything else that was said that evening until I was escorted off the floor,’ she said.
‘I knew that God was going to speak through me, and I knew it was going to be during the vote, raising the debt ceiling level and ending the government shutdown.’
The YouTube clip features Diane Reidy, together with her husband Dan, who cited several Bible versions during the video
Messenger: Dianne Reidy said she was prompted to speak by the Holy Spirit
Her husband said he was fully supportive of his wife’s actions and that ‘Dianne and I are both Bible-believing Christians.’
‘We believe it was Dianne that was being carried along by the spirit of God in speaking to the representatives that evening,’ he said.
Reidy was taken to George Washington University Hospital where a resident diagnosed the incident as anxiety and a religious experience. However, her doctor the next day said she suffered from psychosis.
During the vote on legislation to end the debt deadlock, Reidy began shouting about God, Freemasons and a 'House divided'.
'He will not be mocked. He will not be mocked- don't touch me- He will not be mocked,' she had called out.
'The greatest deception here is this is not one nation under God. It never was. Had it been it would not have been. It would not have been.
'The Constitution would not have been written by Freemasons. They go against God. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve two masters. Praise be to God. Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to Jesus.'
Video: Watch Dianne's testimony
Proud: Dan Reidy, pictured with is wife Dianne, and daughters, blamed the long working hours on the outburst
On her Facebook page, Mrs Reidy is a fan of several Christian-oriented groups, including the evangelical In Touch Ministries, led by TV preacher Charles Stanley.
She does not drink, do drugs or have any medication issues, and was released from the hospital.
'I’m glad that I fulfilled God’s mission for me, absolutely. It lifted a tremendous burden. It was a very hard burden to carry as you can imagine,' she said in an interview with The New York Post.
Her husband spoke for the majority of the interview, saying that the late nights that she worked during the shutdown drove her to the brink.
'God was preparing her for this vote last night, because this was kind of the culmination of everything,' Mr Reidy told The Post.
'This was the big one. Everybody’s there. And Dianne didn’t know what she was sharing, she didn’t know when — but she just sensed in her spirit.'
Mrs Reidy has worked as a stenographer for two decades and the past eight of those years were for the House Clerk- a job she reportedly enjoys because she appreciates the archaic parliamentary order to the ways that laws are passed and debates are organized.
Mr Reidy told The Daily Beast that his wife took her job so seriously that she refused to call in sick even when she was suffering from morning sickness while pregnant with the couple's twin daughters.
'This whole mess has just kind of sickened her to the whole process,' he said of her disgust with what had been going on during the federal shutdown.
'The alliances between people who aren’t really allies. The finger-pointing on the dais, [then] the arms around each other… Where are the people being served in this whole deal?
'She was just like, "Gosh, this is not what it’s about."'
Attention: Those in earshot of Mrs Reidy could be seen looking at her during the outburst
The couple are open about their devout religious beliefs. 'Reading a Bible is not foreign to us, but getting up in the middle of the night definitely is. It’s just not a part of our life,' Mr Reidy told the Daily Beast.
'What she was finding out was that God was impressing on her heart that He had a message He wanted her to share with the House of Representatives.'
CSPAN was recording the scene and had the screen blocked with the breakdown of the vote that had just happened to approve the debt ceiling increase and temporary budget agreement.
Though it was not a clear shot, it was possible to see Mrs Reidy approach the microphone and begin gesticulating.
A GOP aide told CNN: '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. I don't know, she just snapped.'
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWJ%2FdoSRbWltZ4Opsq%2B7xquYqaCVp3q4sc2tZKuZnql6prrDZp6orpWnu66xza1krKClqbGww81mm56akamybpTOrqqeZZSau6qx0majqKuZo7Ruucinm2agkau2r7OMm6memZuZvLi6jaGrpqQ%3D