Video by Michael Schwab Video: Grayson threatens to have POLITICO reporter arrested The congressman was asked about accusations of domestic abuse.

Rep. Alan Grayson threatened to have a POLITICO reporter arrested Tuesday, alleging that the reporter assaulted him as he attempted to question the congressman about allegations of domestic abuse.

The Florida Democrat and Senate candidate was on his way out of an event hosted by POLITICO in Philadelphia when reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere approached him to ask about allegations by his ex-wife that he had battered her over the course of two decades. The congressman strongly denied the allegations in the story, first reported by POLITICO on Tuesday, but he only provided a comment through his lawyer for the article, which detailed police and court documents dating back to 1994.


A video of the exchange shows Grayson refusing to stop to talk to Dovere and appearing to nudge him aside as the congressman made his way towards the elevator.

Grayson grew visibly frustrated as Dovere continued to follow him. The exchange came to a head as the Florida congressman alleged that the reporter had assaulted him.

“You’re getting in my way, my friend. You’re assaulting a member of Congress. You’re pushing me. Have this guy escorted out, please,” Grayson said. Once there, he continued his exchange with Dovere as he waited for an elevator to arrive.

Grayson then asked Dovere, “Do you seriously think that this is the proper way to conduct an interview?” Dovere responded that Grayson came to a POLITICO event and so he was trying to ask him a question.

“My mistake. My mistake, okay? Now people know going forward that simply showing up to a public event means that you can come and hassle me,” Grayson said.

“You’re a member of Congress,” Dovere replied. “You’re a public official.”

The two then exchanged accusations that one had pushed the other, which ended when Dovere said POLITICO videographers had captured the entire exchange.

“Well that’s right and it’s a good thing,” Grayson said of the video evidence. “I’ll be handing it over to the Capitol police, my friend.”

As the elevator arrived and Grayson entered, Dovere tried again to ask about his ex-wife's claims. Grayson refused to answer and suggested that Dovere would be arrested.

“You know, I’m hoping that somebody comes here and arrests you,” Grayson said. “We’ll see if that happens or not.”

Grayson has a history of losing his cool and shouting. Last year, when asked about his private hedge fund potentially violating House ethics rules, Grayson snapped at a Tampa Bay Times reporter by calling him a “shitting robot.” Days later, he also had a tense exchange with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Jon Tester in which the congressman used a crude term to describe his Senate race opponent, Rep. Patrick Murphy.

Just as POLITICO posted the video of the exchange, two liberal groups took the rare step of jointly withdrawing their endorsements of Grayson as a result of the POLITICO story concerning the domestic-abuse issues.

"Unfortunately, this deeply disappointing revelation means progressives have no great options in the Florida race for Senate," Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee said in a written statement.

Marc Caputo contributed to this report.

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