Notable legal scholar Jonathan Turley criticized the decision by Pelosi, but in a blog post, said that it was not in fact against the law.
\"This is a courtesy copy that is not filed or deposited with the House. Judging from the fact that I could not find evidence that these copies were archived with the House, I assume that past Speakers have kept the copies as personal property,\" Turley wrote. \"While years ago I wrote an academic study of such records and criticized the view of presidential papers as personal property, a court would likely view this document as the personal property of Pelosi.\"
In a news conference Thursday, Pelosi explained why she tore up the address, saying that as she read through the speech, she saw the “compilation of falsehoods” and though of something that could indicate to Americans that the speech was “not the truth.”
Pelosi railed against the president’s use of guests at the State of the Union and what she called “misrepresentations” in his address.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/twip-05-gty-jef-200205_hpEmbed_1_17x12_384.jpg\")
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: Vice President Mike Pence claps as Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi rips a copy of President Donald Trump's speech after he delivers the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 2020.
“So it was, in my view, a manifesto of mistruths, falsehoods, blatantly really dangerous to the well-being of the American people if they believed what he said,” Speaker Pelosi said Thursday. “So again, we do not want chamber of the House of Representatives to be used as a backdrop for one of his reality shows with unreality in his presentation.”
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