The felony-convicted husband of progressive "squad" lawmaker Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., slapped a phone out of a reporter's hands Monday inside a city hall building after they attempted to approach the congresswoman to ask her a question about alleged childcare fraud in Minnesota. 

"Congresswoman Pressley, do you support –" the interviewer could be heard asking as he approached Pressley with his phone camera on record before Conan Harris, Pressley's husband who spent 10 years in prison on felony drug trafficking charges, smacked the phone out of the questioner's hand.  

"Sir, you cannot take my phone out of my hand," the questioner could be heard saying, before the phone was picked back up and returned to focus. Harris spent 10 years in prison on a drug trafficking charge before marrying Pressley, who said she draws from his experience of reintegrating into regular society after leaving prison to help inform how she advocates for incarcerated, or previously incarcerated, individuals.

COMER VOWS MINNESOTA FRAUD PROBE WILL EXPAND TO OTHER STATES AMID MOUNTING SCRUTINY

The incident took place Monday at Chelsea City Hall located in Chelsea, Massachusetts.  

Meanwhile, the cameraman tried to focus the picture on Harris after his phone was knocked out of his hand, but Harris was seen walking into what appeared to be a bathroom, or some type of room off the hallway they were located in, once he was able to re-focus the camera.

Instead, the interviewer went back to Pressley and attempted a second time to get his question in. 

"Congresswoman Pressley, do you support President Trump investigating Somali childcare fraud in Minnesota?" he asked as the Massachusetts Democrat walked away, guarded by her entourage of staffers. "Congresswoman Pressley?"

HOUSE GOP BILL COULD TRIGGER SELF-DEPORTATION FOR SOMALI REFUGEES AMID MINNESOTA FRAUD PROBE 

The lawmaker was being pressed on the issue on the same day the Trump administration announced it would be freezing $10 billion in federal funds going to childcare across five blue states, which follows reports of social services fraud involving the Somali community in Minnesota. 

The states impacted will be California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York.

An official from the Office of Management and Budget reportedly told Axios that the hold is due to both fraud and the provision of funds to undocumented immigrants.

Pressley did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

"The fraud in California, New York and Illinois is far greater than in Minnesota," Donald Trump's former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head, Elon Musk, said this week. "My guess for how much fraud is happening nationwide is roughly 10% of the Federal budget, so about $700 billion per year."

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will accuse top Minnesota government officials of being "asleep at the wheel" at the start of his panel's high-profile hearing into alleged fraud.

In Comer's opening statement, obtained by Fox News Digital, he is expected to question whether "Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minnesota’s Democratic leadership" were negligent or "complicit" in the growing scandal.

"Minnesota’s social services — which are funded by you, the American taxpayer — are being ripped off. The most vulnerable are suffering as a result," Comer will say, according to his prepared remarks. 

"The fraudsters — many of whom are from Minnesota’s Somali community — have stolen from programs meant to feed needy kids, provide services to autistic children, house low-income and disabled Americans, and provide healthcare to vulnerable Medicaid recipients."

HOUSE GOP BILL COULD TRIGGER SELF-DEPORTATION FOR SOMALI REFUGEES AMID MINNESOTA FRAUD PROBE

Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have charged multiple people with stealing more than $240 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program through the Minnesota-based nonprofit Feeding Our Future.

However, the probe has since widened to multiple state-run programs being investigated for potential fraud. Childcare providers receiving state funding, mainly within the Somali community, are also under scrutiny.

U.S. attorneys have alleged that billions more dollars could have fallen prey to fraud in the state, something Walz has pushed back on while accusing Republicans of politicizing the scandal.

"Fraudsters like these take millions to enrich themselves while providing nothing, overstating, or outright faking the services. How many children have gone hungry because fraudsters stole money that was intended to provide them with food?" Comer will say.

KAROLINE LEAVITT WARNS 'PEOPLE WILL BE IN HANDCUFFS' AS FEDS ZERO IN ON MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL

"How many autistic children were denied services because fraudsters instead sent this money overseas? How many low-income seniors, people with disabilities, or those with mental illnesses were denied access to housing because fraudsters drained resources and pocketed the money for themselves?"

Comer will argue in his statement that the revelations so far are "just the tip of the iceberg."

The Wednesday hearing, which kicks off at 10 a.m. ET, will feature testimony from three Republicans in the state legislature.

Comer summoned Walz and Ellison for a follow-up hearing on Feb. 10, but it's not yet clear if they will attend.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., will also take part in Wednesday's hearing, Fox News Digital was told. Emmer is a longtime critic of Walz's administration and represents a district that's home to two out of three of the hearing's GOP witnesses.