While it has been just over three months since the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was brutally attacked in his home, authorities have yet to release any videos tied to the incident.
That’s apparently about to change, however, as a San Francisco judge ruled this week that bodycam footage taken by responding officers must be made public.
News outlets are also seeking security footage and 911 call
According to the New York Post, Judge Stephen Murphy made that decision on Wednesday. Murphy is presiding over a lawsuit filed by the Associated Press along with a coalition of other news outlets.
In addition to body cam footage, the plaintiffs are also seeking a recording of a 911 call made by the victim, Paul Pelosi, along with US Capitol Police surveillance footage of his home.
Another item being sought is a recording of the interview that suspect David DePape had with a San Francisco Police Department investigator following the attack.
Charging documents against DePape contain some of the few details that have been made publicly available, and they show that responding officers saw what transpired.
The Suspect’s lawyer opposes the release of material
“Pelosi and DePape were both holding a hammer with one hand and DePape had his other hand holding onto Pelosi’s forearm. Pelosi greeted the officers,” the Post quoted the documents as saying.
When the officers demanded that both men release the hammer, DePape is said to have taken it “from Pelosi’s hand and swung it, striking Pelosi in the head.”
The Post noted that for his part, DePape’s lawyer voiced opposition to releasing materials associated with the case, arguing that such a move would interfere with the accused’s right to a fair trial.
Interestingly, conservative blogger Stacey Matthews observed in an article she wrote for the website Legal Insurrection that not all members of the mainstream media are in favor of greater transparency when it comes to the Pelosi attack.
Liberal columnist says release of evidence could promote conspiracy theories
“Around the same time NBC News was frantically working to nuke Almaguer’s story, so-called ‘journalists’ at the Washington Post were arguing against the release of the Pelosi tapes on grounds that it would fuel conspiracy theories or something,” Matthews explained.
Among them is Washington Post columnist Philip Bump, who in November put out a series of tweets arguing that more information would promote conspiracy theories.
“There is no obvious mystery about the attack on Paul Pelosi. With insistences that surveillance video needs to be released, though, the conspiracy theories continue to chug along,” Bump complained.
“Conspiracy theories feed both by linking together unrelated things and by implying that something more is being hidden,” he insisted, adding, “Demanding the video is often just a way of doing the latter. And if released, it would likely add to the former.”