House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband has been slapped with misdemeanor charges in connection with a May road collision where drinking might have played a role.
On Thursday, the Napa County, California, District Attorney’s Office charged Paul Pelosi, 82, with one count each of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury and driving with a .08 percent blood-alcohol level or higher causing injury, according to CBS.
“Under California law, these charges can be filed as a misdemeanor or felony,” District Attorney Allison Haley said in a statement, according to The New York Times. “Based upon the extent of the injuries suffered by the victim, the district attorney filed misdemeanor charges. This decision is consistent with how our office handles these cases with similar injuries.”
The crash happened on May 28, when Pelosi, driving a Porsche, was crossing a state road and was struck by a Jeep.
California Highway Patrol officials wrote in a criminal complaint that both vehicles sustained “major collision damage,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
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Pelosi was “the proximate cause of the collision,” the complaint stated.
Highway Patrol officers noted “objective signs and symptoms of alcohol intoxication coming from Mr. Pelosi,” according to the Chronicle, and his eyes appeared to be red and “watery.”
Pelosi was “unsteady on his feet, his speech was slurred,” and he smelled of alcohol, the criminal complaint stated, according to the Chronicle.
The complaint stated Pelosi showed signs of impairment when a field sobriety test was administered, the Chronicle reported.
Will Paul Pelosi ever set foot in a jail cell for this?
A blood sample taken at 12:32 a.m. on May 29, shortly after Pelosi was arrested, recorded a 0.082 percent blood alcohol content, district attorney’s officials said.
The driver of the Jeep reported pain in his arm, shoulder and neck after the crash and said he was suffering from headaches “that had not been present prior to the collision,” according to the criminal complaint, the Chronicle reported.
If convicted, Pelosi could face a minimum of five days in jail and up to five years of probation. He could also be ordered to have an “ignition interlock device” installed in his vehicle or participate in a court-ordered “drinking driver class,” according to the Chronicle.
Paul Pelosi’s spokesman declined to comment, according to the Chronicle. Speaker Pelosi was not with her husband at the time of the accident.
Pelosi was released “upon his promise to appear for an arraignment” on Aug. 3, according to the Chronicle.
Fox News host Jesse Watters said Thursday on “Jesse Watters Primetime” that Paul Pelosi is being treated with “liberal privilege” because the video footage from the officers who responded to Pelosi’s crash has not been released, according to Fox News.
“This explains why we haven’t seen the dash cam and the body cam footage from that night. California Highway Patrol has it. They told us they have it. And they say the DA won’t let him release it, and the DA is telling us a different story, but we’re not going to get jerked around,” Watters said.
“That’s why our attorney has served both sides with papers demanding the release of all the footage, along with an explanation. The burden, legally, is on them, not us. All we’re asking for is transparency, plain and simple. But if they don’t respond to us by Monday, we’ll be taking them to court,” he said.
