Well, I Was Partly Right

The one inference I made in yesterday's post that was completely correct was that Chief Scott of the San Francisco Police Department was not promoted for his communication skills. His statements following the incident at the Pelosi home were vague and required at least two subsequent clarifications, themselves vague and confusing. The criminal complaint filed yesterday by the FBI, in contrast, provides a consistent narrative that for now seems credible, although it in itself raises other questions, in particular why there was in fact so little security at the Pelosi home in light of the Speaker's position in the line of presidential succession.

The criminal complaint is based in part on interviews with Paul Pelosi himself, one in the ambulance immediately after the attack, as well as police body cam footage. These were available to Chief Scott and his staff before he issued any public statement and could have been used to much better effect than they were. Our institutions pay a high price for corruption. Here are reordered excerpts from the complaint that provide a clearer picture, days after it should have been given:

DEPAPE stated that he broke into the house through a glass door, which was a difficult task that required the use of a hammer. DEPAPE stated that Pelosi was in bed and appeared surprised by DEPAPE. DEPAPE told Pelosi to wake up. DEPAPE told Pelosi that he was looking for Nancy.

. . . Around this time, according to DEPAPE, DEPAPE started taking out twist ties from his pocket so that he could restrain Pelosi. Pelosi moved towards another part of the house, but DEPAPE stopped him and together they went back into the bedroom.

While talking with each other, Pelosi went into a bathroom, where Pelosi grabbed a phone to call 9-1-1. DEPAPE stated he felt like Pelosi’s actions compelled him to respond.

. . . DEPAPE stated that they went downstairs to the front door. The police arrived and knocked on the door, and Pelosi ran over and opened it. Pelosi grabbed onto DEPAPE’s hammer, which was in DEPAPE’s hand.

. . . DEPAPE stated that he pulled the hammer away from Pelosi and swung the hammer towards Pelosi.

At this point, the police entered the home through the open door and tackled DePape. This solves the question I had yesterday of exactly how this tableau emerged without a third party opening the door, and the reason lies entirely with the staff who provided Chief Scott with a vague and poorly worded version of events for him to deliver to the press. A smaller question, in light of DePape's clear intent and erratic behavior, is why, once Pelosi opened the door, he didn't immediately run outside to the police officers, but that's just not how things went down.

A footnote to this version of events is a witness account from outside the home included in the complaint:

SFPD Officer Colby Wilmes was able to interview a witness, Witness 1, who saw an individual in all black, carrying a large black bag on his back, walking near the Pelosi residence where Witness 1 was parked. Witness 1 was working private security at an address nearby. Witness 1 then heard what sounded like banging on either a door or car and then heard the sirens within a minute or two.

It sounds like we can infer that the whole episode took place within the space of a very few minutes, that Pelosi did not know DePape and had not interacted with him at all prior to his entry to the home, and in fact DePape did not attack Pelosi with the hammer until after the police arrived, when Pelosi inexplicably chose to return to DePape in the entryway after opening the door for the police. Accounts from DePape's associates give a fairly convincing impression that he was psychotic and disorganized and not capable of pursuing an effective or rational plan in entering the Pelosi home.

Two factors led to confusion and suspicion about the story over the weekend. One was Paul Pelosi's reputation: six months earlier, he had caused an injury accident while driving under the influence but used his connections as a major donor to police charities to try to influence the responding officer to give him preferential treatment. He was dismissed from that charitable group as a result. Nevertheless, in an atmosphere of continuing political interference, he received a minimal jail sentence for the DUI. Beyond that, in recent months, both he and his wife, the Speaker, have been accused of building massive wealth via insider stock market deals. All of this would lead reasonable observers to conclude political influence could surround the handling of this case.

The second factor is what appears to be the remarkably light security in the Pelosi home, given both their wealth and the Speaker's position in the presidential line of succession. A disorganized psychotic was able to smash an outside door, gain entry to the home, and wake up Pelosi in his bedroom without setting off any alarm. In my own home, with middle class-level security, anyone who forced an outside door open would set off an alarm, loud enough to wake the dead in the house as well as at the security company and the police department. This apparently didn't happen here.

One question I have is whether the same level of security applies when the Speaker is in residence at that location -- given the Speaker's general self-importance and grandiosity, I would think that either security there is enhanced when she's present, or she just isn't there very often -- or maybe both. And the level of security when only Paul is there may well be a reflection of Paul's overall standing in Nancy's universe.

There seems to be a very high probability that the Speaker will be a lame duck after next week's elections. With Republicans returning to power, this case deserves a serious congressional investigation.