Nancy Pelosi says it would be ‘difficult’ to watch husband’s attack before video released

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said Thursday that it would be “very difficult” to watch videos of a violent attack on her husband inside the couple’s home in San Francisco. Footage is expected to be released Friday morning.

Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Pelosi said her biggest concern was her husband’s well-being, adding that they were taking his recovery one day at a time.

“I don’t even know if I’ll see it,” Pelosi said of the footage. “I mean, it will be very difficult to see an assault on my husband’s life.”

Earlier this week, a California judge ordered the release of body camera footage of officers responding to the attack, defying demands from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office to keep it secret.

Prosecutors had warned that the video could be exploited by conspiracy theorists, while news outlets argued that this did not override the public’s right to access the material. The images had already been released during a preliminary hearing.

The video will be made available to accredited media early Friday morning, along with other evidence in the case, including Paul Pelosi’s 911 call, footage from surveillance cameras that Capitol Police had set up in the property and interview with the police of the alleged assailant, the superior of San Francisco. said the court.

Paul Pelosi, 82, was attacked with a hammer inside his home in late October. David DePape reportedly broke into the property in hopes of kidnapping Nancy Pelosi, who at the time was second in line to the presidency.

Paul Pelosi managed to call 911 during the burglary. When officers arrived at the home, they saw the two men fighting over a hammer, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said DePape refused to drop the hammer on police instructions and struck Pelosi in the head, knocking him unconscious in a pool of his own blood.

DePape reportedly later said he intended to target more lawmakers.

He now faces federal and state charges for the attack. He pleaded not guilty.

The former speaker estimated it will take at least three more months before her husband, who underwent surgery for a fractured skull and injuries to his hands and right arm following the assault, is completely recovered.

The couple have made limited public appearances since the attack, including when President Joe Biden hosted the Golden State Warriors at the White House. “He kinda went out because the doctor said he must have had something to look forward to,” Pelosi told CNN’s Chris Wallace earlier this month.

Pelosi announced in November that she would step down as House leader, ending her historic tenure at the top of the caucus.

“I was probably going to go anyway,” she told Maureen Dowd of The New York Times in a recent interview when asked if her husband’s assault factored into the story. her decision. “Let’s say we won by 20 votes and that was a great thing, I might have stayed.”

Republicans took control of the House with a slim majority after a disappointing performance in last year’s midterm elections.