Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), has been released from the hospital less than one week after police said a man broke into the couple’s San Francisco home and struck him over the head with a hammer, a source confirmed to The Hill.
Paul Pelosi, 82, underwent successful surgery on Friday to treat a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands.
The Speaker confirmed the news in a statement on Thursday, adding that her husband is home and surrounded by family. She said he “remains under doctors’ care as he continues to progress on a long recovery process and convalescence.”
“Paul is grateful to the 911 operator, emergency responders, trauma care team, ICU staff, and the entire [Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital] medical staff for their excellent and compassionate life-saving treatment he received after the violent assault in our home,” she said.
Paul Pelosi, 82, underwent successful surgery at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on Friday to treat a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands. On Friday, the Speaker’s spokesperson had said his doctors “expect a full recovery.”
CNN first reported on Paul Pelosi’s release from the hospital.
Authorities allege that David DePape, 42, broke a glass door and entered the Pelosis’ San Francisco residence in the middle of the night on Friday, before threatening both Paul Pelosi and the Speaker and hitting Paul Pelosi over the head with a hammer.
According to the Justice Department’s affidavit, DePape said he was looking for the Speaker and wanted to hold her hostage and talk to her. When Paul Pelosi told him she was not there — she was in Washington, D.C. at the time — he said he would sit and wait for her, per the charging documents.
The suspect told authorities that if the Speaker told the “truth,” he would let her go, but if she “lied,” he was going to break “her kneecaps,” according to the affidavit.
Shortly after, when officers arrived on the scene at around 2:27 a.m., they observed DePape and Paul Pelosi struggling over a hammer. DePape then allegedly “pulled the hammer from Pelosi’s hand and swung the hammer,” according to the Justice Department affidavit.
DePape is facing a number of federal and state charges, including attempted murder and attempted kidnapping. On Tuesday, he entered a not guilty plea for six state felonies: attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary false imprisonment and threatening the life or serious bodily harm to a public official.
DePape is facing between 13 years and life in prison for the state charges.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Thursday that the suspect — a Canadian national — has been living in the U.S. illegally for more than a decade. The agency has placed an immigration detainer on him.
Updated at 6:38 p.m.