House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi found herself in a bit of a sparring match with GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich Wednesday.
For a second time, Pelosi seems to have offered hints that she has a secret that will keep Gingrich from becoming president. The latest was on CNN Tuesday.
Gingrich said Wednesday that the San Francisco representative should come out with it or shut up. He told NBC's Ann Curry that if Pelosi knows something "she should spit it out." He also took a swipe at San Francisco by saying Pelosi lives in a "San Francisco environment of very strange fantasies and very strange understanding of reality." (Both clips below- Gingrich starts at 5:10)
The latest back-and-forth in the contest of two former House speakers came in a CNN interview with John King who suggested to Pelosi that she "could come back here next January or next February with a President Gingrich?"
"Let me just say this. That will never happen," Pelosi said.
When King asked, "Why are you so sure?" Pelosi responded: "There's something I know. The Republicans, if they choose to nominate him, that's their prerogative. I don't even think that's going to happen."
On Wednesday, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said: "The 'something' leader Pelosi knows is that Newt Gingrich will not be president of the United States. She made that clear last night."
Hammill's statement, however, acknowledged that this wasn't the first time that Pelosi hinted that she knows something about Gingrich that she hasn't revealed.
In December, Pelosi reminded an interviewer that she served on the ethics panel that investigated Gingrich's use of tax-exempt organizations. That case ended with a reprimand by the House and a $300,000 penalty against the then-speaker for misleading the committee and prolonging its investigation.
Pelosi said last month: "One of these days we'll have a conversation about Newt Gingrich. I know a lot about him. I served on the investigative committee that investigated him, four of us locked in a room in an undisclosed location for a year. A thousand pages of his stuff."
Hammill repeated the explanation provided after those comments.
"Leader Pelosi previously made a reference to the extensive amount of information that is in the public record, including the comprehensive committee report with which the public may not be fully aware," the spokesman said.
