Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reportedly had priests perform an “exorcism” on her home after her husband Paul was attacked with a hammer by an alleged intruder.
Pelosi told a columnist at The New York Times that it would be “three or four more months before he’s really back to normal.”
Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra, said the altercation affected her mother much more than people realize.
“I think that weighed really heavy on her soul. I think she felt really guilty,” she said. “I think that really broke her. Over Thanksgiving, she had priests coming, trying to have an exorcism of the house and having prayer services.”
Fr. Arturo Albano, the pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church, Pelosi’s local parish, told the New York Post that no one from his staff was involved.
“As far as I know, no exorcism or priest services were performed at her home,” Albano told The Post.
When Pelosi was asked if the attack impacted her decision to step down from her role as House Speaker, she said it was already time for her to hand over the gavel to someone else.
“I was probably going to go anyway,” Nancy Pelosi said, adding, “say we won by 20 votes and it was a big thing, I might have stayed. It’s true that I had two thoughts in mind when I went to the floor, to stay or not to stay. It was time to move on.”
“If Hillary had won, I could have left,” Pelosi added. “But I was not going to let Donald Trump have his way with the government.”
David DePape, 42, allegedly struck Mr. Pelosi with a hammer when police arrived at the San Francisco home in October. The alleged intruder was reportedly demanding to know the then-Speaker’s whereabouts.
Prosecutors charged DePape with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and elder abuse, Fox News reported. However, the accused pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges, including allegations he planned to kidnap Nancy Pelosi.
Adam Lipson, DePape’s public defender, said that the suspected attacker “is going to be fighting this case in court, not the hallway,” ABC News reported.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement following his arraignment that “Mr. DePape will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and held accountable for his heinous crimes,” according to the outlet.
Brandon Drey contributed to this report.