U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks to members of the media after a House Democrats meeting at the Capitol May 22, 2019 in Washington, DC.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi snapped at White House counselor Kellyanne Conway after a tense, aborted meeting on infrastructure Wednesday, a senior administration official told CNBC.
“I don’t talk to staff. I talk directly to the president,” Pelosi said after Conway asked the speaker a question, according to the official.
The interaction followed President Donald Trump’s abrupt exit from a meeting with Democratic congressional leaders.
Pelosi earlier in the day accused the president of engaging in a “cover-up” by blocking White House aides from providing testimony and responding to document requests from congressional investigations.
The president responded by saying he doesn’t “do cover-ups” and that he could not work with Democrats on legislation until they stopped investigating him.
In a last-minute press event at the Rose Garden, Trump said he “walked into the room and I told Sen. Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, ‘I want to do infrastructure’ … but we can’t do it under these circumstances.”
Democratic leaders said they were ready to make a deal on a $2 trillion plan to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, including roads, bridges and airports.
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