Democrat Jim Carroll is currently serving his second term in the Vermont House of Representatives for District Bennington-5. He’s known Republican Rep Mary Morrissey, who serves the same district, since childhood (they’re now in their sixties), and they go to the same church. Since January, Carroll has noticed that the canvas tote bag he hangs on a hook outside his committee room was damp when he’d go to retrieve it after a long day of committeeing. This was equal parts perplexing and vexing. So several weeks ago he set up a hidden camera. I think you know where this is going. Yes folks, Morrissey, his lifetime acquaintance and current representative-in-arms, was caught wet handed on tape. Morrissey has since apologized to Carroll while speaking from the Vermont house floor, and, presumably, has quit hydrating his carryall. While she claimed to be “truly ashamed,” her explanation was a little wishy-washy:

Carroll says he first suspected Morrissey as she had been “nasty” to him for several months despite the two knowing each other since childhood and even attending the same church.

“[She] would say demeaning things in front of other legislators,” Carroll said.

But Carroll had no evidence, so he decided to launch his own investigation.

For weeks, Carroll secretly recorded footage of his backpack to catch the person in the act.

In two videos Carroll captured, Morrissey is seen dumping a cup of liquid into Carroll’s green tote bag. Morrissey’s face was not captured in the video, but fellow lawmakers were able to identify her by her gray hair.

Seven Days later used a public records request to obtain footage of Morrissey dumping water into Carroll’s bag. That was after the outlet initially reported on Morrissey’s behavior and an ethics investigation into her.

Carroll initially refused to release the videos to Seven Days but ultimately changed his mind.

“I have been very reluctant to disclose the video because I believe it will deeply embarrass Representative Morrissey,” Carroll wrote in a statement to the outlet. “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 when he first saw the video of Morrissey, he felt “sad”. “There was no good that was going to come out of this,” he said.

Morrissey later apologized to Carroll during a subsequent meeting and claimed that she didn’t know the bag belonged to him.

According to Carroll, Morrissey initially said that she “flicked” water on the bag because she saw a bug on it. But she later added that she didn’t know why she decided to dump water on Carroll’s bag for months on end.

“At the end of the meeting, I looked at her and said, ‘You know, this has really f–ked me up.’ There were weeks when I didn’t know who was doing this or why,” Carroll said.

“I walked around this place, paranoid of my fellow legislators, racking my brain trying to think, ‘What could I have possibly said or done?’”

Carroll said that he was still weighing whether he should pursue charges against Morrissey for the harassment.

As for whether he forgives Morrissey, Carroll said: “I guess I would have to say yes in the spirit of forgiveness, reluctantly. But if I had to be a smartass, I’d say her apology holds about as much water as my canvas bag.”

[From The Guardian]

“Morrissey’s face was not captured in the video, but fellow lawmakers were able to identify her by her gray hair.” Yeesh! Not that I’m defending Morrissey or any acts of liquid harassment, but are they saying she’s the only representative in Vermont with gray hair?!? Not being on the ground in the Green Mountain State myself, I only have the reps’ website headshots to go off of, and, well… Rep Morrissey’s may be out of date.

But what I really want to dig into is Morrissey’s no-explanation explanation, at least as reported by Carroll. First up: “According to Carroll, Morrissey initially said that she ‘flicked’ water on the bag because she saw a bug on it.” Sure, Jan. And part two: “But she later added that she didn’t know why she decided to dump water on Carroll’s bag for months on end.” Ah, the old “I don’t know why I did it,” defense. What do we think, folks? Do we buy that she genuinely didn’t know how this water prank kept flowing for 121 days, give or take? Or does she absolutely know why she did it, and is just too lazy to offer up a better excuse? Hey, The Guardian didn’t say what denomination Church they both attend — maybe she thought she was baptizing the bag? Whichever reasoning strikes your fancy, they all speak to a certain level of incompetence, so my question to the fine voting citizens of District Bennington-5 is: do you still want her representing you?

Finally, to Rep Carroll: well played with the smartass reply to her apology. No notes.

Photos of Jim Carroll and Mary Morrissey viaFacebook