The former House stenographer who
took to the microphone with a religious message after the Oct. 17, 2013, vote to end the government shutdown has spoken out about the controversy she caused for the first time.
Dianne Reidy and her husband, Dan, uploaded a
video to YouTube on Saturday to explain that Dianne did not "lose her mind" or "suffer a breakdown" before she was dragged off the House floor. She has since been fired.
Dan speaks during the first 10 minutes of the 38-minute video, explaining that her words were prophecy from God.
Urgent: Will Jesus Ever Return? Some Are Wondering
"God loves us so much he will bring forth a word of correction before he brings forth judgment," Dan said. The Reidys believe God was speaking through Dianne to give correction to the government "hopefully before he brings judgment on our country."
Story continues below video.
Dianne said she does not remember what she said, and that God was using her as a vessel to speak to the members of the chamber.
Dan noted that the microphone was turned off on the House floor, so audio from her speaking at the dais was not heard on C-SPAN. He played a clip from a news camera that took video of her in the hallway after she was escorted out. The audio from her words in the hallway appear to have been placed over the C-SPAN video of her on the House floor, he noted.
"I remember getting up to the podium and after saying, 'God will not be mocked.' I don’t have a memory of anything else that was said that evening until I was escorted off the floor," Dianne says. "I knew that God was going to speak through me, and I knew it was going to be during the vote, raising the debt ceiling level and ending the government shutdown."
"We believe it was Dianne that was being carried along by the spirit of God in speaking to the representatives that evening," Dan says. "Dianne and I are both Bible-believing Christians."
Dianne said it was not the first time she had such an experience. Previously, she had been given words when asked to speak at a friend's eulogy, when she met with her father in prison and when she sat at a red light next to a man who was cursing at pedestrians.
Dianne said she was diagnosed at George Washington University Hospital the night of the incident as having had a religious experience and anxiety, a diagnosis she said was accurate. The next day, her doctor diagnosed her with psychosis.
Urgent: Will Jesus Ever Return? Some Are Wondering
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.