Contradicting reports about the Nov. 9th attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), are raising questions about whether the DOJ put out a false or misleading account about the incident.
A November 9 indictment filed by the DOJ claimed that when officers arrived at the Pelosi residence, they let themselves in. However, a source at the San Francisco district attorney’s office who personally viewed the police body cam footage of the incident told the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit that it was Pelosi who let them into the home. Paul Pelosi, the officers and David DePape (the attacker) then engaged in a short conversation with the police before DePape attacked Pelosi with a hammer. Paul Pelosi was subsequently hospitalized and underwent brain surgery.
The DOJ report also contradicts the statement given by DePape to the police at the time of his arrest. According to DePape, Paul Pelosi let the police officers into the house.
The information provided by the unnamed source at the San Francisco district attorney’s office regarding the discrepancies between the DOJ account and the body cam footage corroborates a Nov. 4th report by NBC News national correspondent Miguel Almaguer. According to Almaguer, Pelosi opened the door but didn’t attempt to escape or declare an emergency, instead walking several feet away from the police and toward DePape. Almaguer went on to report that when asked what was going on, the defendant smiled and said, “Everything’s good.” After this interaction, according to Almaguer, a struggle ensued, which ended with DePape striking Pelosi in the head with a hammer.
A few hours after Almaguer’s story came out, NBC abruptly pulled the report from all social media. NBC News issued an editor’s note on its website, stating, “This piece has been removed from publication because it did not meet NBC News reporting standards.” NBC News then suspended correspondent Miguel Almaguer and announced that it would be conducting an internal investigation into the retracted story.
After the midterms, NBC Bay Area reporter Bigad Shaban confirmed that the original Nov. 4th NBC report by Miguel Almaguer that led to his suspension was, in fact, accurate.
