Pelosi Attack Reignites Concerns Over Lawmakers’ Safety

Last week’s home invasion and attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband intensified an issue at the top of mind for members of Congress: how to boost security for lawmakers and their families.
Pelosi’s 82-year-old husband, Paul, is expected to recover from the attack. The speaker was in Washington, D.C., on the night David DePape allegedly broke into her San Francisco home, asking where she was. (Read yesterday’s Morning Dispatch for more details on the break-in and DePape’s apparent espousal of numerous right-wing conspiracy theories.)
A Justice Department criminal complaint against DePape released Monday afternoon indicates the attack was politically motivated:
DEPAPE stated that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her. If Nancy were to tell DEPAPE the “truth,” he would let her go, and if she “lied,” he was going to break “her kneecaps.” DEPAPE was certain that Nancy would not have told the “truth.” In the course of the interview, DEPAPE articulated he viewed Nancy as the “leader of the pack” of lies told by the Democratic Party. DEPAPE also later explained that by breaking Nancy’s kneecaps, she would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other Members of Congress there were consequences to actions.