DOJ releases affidavit with details on Pelosi attack
We ran the numbers: There are 2,672 news articles covering this topic.
37% (989) are left-leaning, 47% (1,261) are centrist, and 16% (422) are right-leaning.
After 42-year-old David DePape broke into the San Francisco home of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi, the Department of Justice released an affidavit on Tuesday charging the assailant with alleged assault and attempted kidnapping of a federal official. A left-leaning article highlighted that several high-profile Republicans have spread misinformation or downplayed the political motivations of DePape, while a right-leaning article highlighted that a Republican lawmaker criticized Democrats for using the attack to garner political leverage ahead of the midterm elections.
The Hill published a centrist article which detailed additional insight into the attacker’s motives and plans, according to police reports included in the affidavit. New details uncovered include that DePape planned to keep Nancy Pelosi hostage for interrogation and that he intended to “break her kneecaps” to prove a point to Congress members about spreading lies, specifically by Democrats. The affidavit mentioned that the assailant intended to restrain Paul Pelosi using the zip ties, rope, and white tape he had brought in order to wait until Nancy Pelosi returned from Washington in a few days.
A left-leaning article by The Washington Post highlighted that posts on social media by high-profile Republicans which downplayed the political motivations of the assailant have been debunked by the DOJ affidavit. It reported that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) retweeted a theory claiming that it was absurd to describe DePape, “a hippie nudist from Berkeley,” as a right-winger despite his online presence in right-wing circles proving otherwise. Elon Musk and also retweeted an article spreading a thinly supported conspiracy theory before deleting it within the day.
A right-leaning article by Fox News highlighted that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a victim of political violence himself, went on primetime television claiming that Democrats are using the Pelosi attack as political leverage ahead of the November midterm elections. Paul added that the focus should be on the victim, Paul Pelosi, rather than the political motivations of the attacker.