Comment Republicans and others on the right are ramping up misinformation and outright lies about last week’s violent attack on Paul Pelosi by a hammer-wielding assailant targeting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The allusion to the attack spread by billionaire Elon Musk and right-wing social media figures last weekend showed no signs of abating Monday as elected officials and other conservatives perpetuated wild theories. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) retweeted a thread by far-right activist Matt Walsh challenging the idea that the alleged shooter, David DePape, was a militant right-winger despite his blog in which he appears to be deeply drawn into the election. lies and political conspiracy theories. Cruz quoted the thread dismissing Deppe as a “nudist hippie from Berkeley” with one word: “truth.” Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) tweeted and deleted a post late Sunday that promoted a conspiracy theory about the violent attack and included a photo of Nancy Pelosi. Terrence K. Williams, a conservative comedian who spoke at the White House during the Trump presidency, tweeted false information about Paul Pelosi and the suspect. And Donald Trump Jr., son of the former president, tweeted images that highlighted the lie on Halloween. Republicans blame ‘both sides’ for political violence after attack on Paul Pelosi As of Monday, Paul Pelosi, 82, was recovering at Zuckerberg General Hospital in San Francisco after surgery for a fractured skull and other injuries from the attack early Friday. He is expected to make a full recovery. Police identified 42-year-old DePape, who has written pro-Trump and anti-Democrat blog posts, as a suspect. San Francisco Police Chief William Scott did not speculate on a motive for the attack, but it appears the gunman was looking for the speaker and said, “Where’s Nancy,” according to a person briefed on the case. “It was not a random act. That was intentional,” Scott told reporters Friday. San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins was expected to announce charges against Depp on Monday, including attempted murder and assault. The Washington Post confirmed that a massive blog written under DePape’s name was filled with deeply anti-Semitic writing and unsubstantiated claims, as well as pro-Donald Trump and anti-Democrat posts. It was registered to a home in Richmond, California, where Depp lives, according to neighbors. Nancy Pelosi made her first public comments on the matter Saturday night in a “Dear Colleague” letter to members of Congress, referring to how “a violent man broke into our family home, demanded to confront me and brutally assaulted my husband my Paul”. She thanked her supporters, saying “the outpouring of prayers and well wishes from so many in Congress is comforting to our family and helping Paul make progress in his recovery.” The letter made no political attack, but quoted a Bible verse from Isaiah 41:10 that begins “Fear not, for I am with you. Do not despair, for I am your God.” The US Capitol Police said they were assisting the FBI and San Francisco police in the investigation of the burglary and attack. The Capitol Police, the agency responsible for protecting members of Congress, has reported a sharp increase in threats against lawmakers in recent years, and threats have escalated sharply since the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. It said the number of cases involving threats against members of Congress rose from about 4,000 in 2017 to more than 9,600 last year. Paul Pelosi is the owner of Financial Leasing Services, a San Francisco-based real estate investment and advisory firm. He met his wife while studying at Georgetown University. At the time she was a student at Trinity College. The Pelos have been married for 59 years and have five children. Laurie McGinley, Paul Kane and Kim Bellware contributed to this report.
