Nancy Pelosi may have broken the law by ripping up Donald Trump's State of the Union speech, a Republican politician has said.
Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz sent a letter to the House Committee on Ethics requesting they open an investigation into the House Speaker possibly violating numerous House rules.
Top Democrat Pelosi tore up Mr Trump's speech when he turned his back after addressing Congress on Wednesday.
Following the incident, Ms Pelosi told reporter that shredding the papers "was the courteous thing to do", something Mr Gaetz mentioned in the letter he sent.
Mr Gaetz wrote on Twitter: "I'm filing an ethics complaint against @SpeakerPelosi for destroying @realDonaldTrump's State of the Union speech.
"Her conduct was beneath the dignity of the House, and a potential violation of law (18 USC 2071).
"Nobody is above the law. She must be held accountable."
In his letter, which was attached to the tweet, he wrote: "Speaker Ms Pelosi’s gesture was deeply offensive and appears to violate clauses 1 and 2 of House Rule XXIII."
“Her behaviour does not ‘reflect creditably on the House,’ nor does it follow “the spirit and the letter of the Rules of the House,” he added.
He said that Ms Pelosi’s “unseemly behaviour certainly warrants censure" before asking that the committee make referrals to the Department of Justice “for further investigation and prosecution.”
Elsewhere in the letter, Mr Gaetz alleged that Ms Pelosi “appears to be in violation” of a law that prohibits willfully destroying paper or documents “filed or deposited” in public office.
He added: “There is no question that Speaker Pelosi ‘mutilated, obliterated, or destroyed’ the copy of the President’s address provided to her at the beginning of the evening."
