Nancy Pelosi appeared shock even George Stephanopoulos of ABC news yesterday. The speaker of the House claimed that Rep. Adam Schiff did not invent his own version of the telephone call between President Trump and the (then) newly inaugurated president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, on July 25, during a September 26 hearing of the House Intelligence Committee, which he chairs.

Schiff himself later in the hearing characterized his version of what he initially called "the essence" of the call as a "parody." But the purported humor sailed right over the head of the speaker.

Here is the entire ABC News transcript. This is the relevant exchange with emphases added by me:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: You talk about the dignity with which you handle this. You've seen the president's tweets. You've heard Republican's — Leader McCarthy wants to censure Adam Schiff. I know you support Chairman Schiff. But — was it — was it right for him to have that dramatic — reading of the president's — interpretation of the president's — transcript of the phone call at the hearing last week? Did that follow the kind of process you want? NANCY PELOSI: I want the American people to know what that phone call was about. I want them to hear it on their — on their iPhone or whatever. I want them to see it visually. Because this was an absolute betrayal of the American people, this phone call. It was a betrayal of our national security, it was a betrayal of the integrity of elections, it was a betrayal of our Constitution. So yeah, it's fair. It's sad. But it's using the president's own words. So if he's-- GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, those weren't the president's words. It was an interpretation of the president's words. NANCY PELOSI: Well, it was a — you mean, the — the note? The notes from the call, is that what you're telling me? GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah, when Adam Schiff went before the committee and said, "This is what the president was saying in essence." And it was — basically a dramatic reading. They're saying he made this up. NANCY PELOSI: He did not make it up. And — and — look, I want to tell you something. When I took the oath of office to support and defend the , as my colleagues have done as well, I did not say, "I will do this as long as the Republicans can understand the Constitution."

The exchange begins at about 2:20 in the video embedded below:

Pelosi clearly intends to deceive the American public with Schiff's fiction.

Image credit: YouTube screen grab.

Hat tip: Mike Nadler.