Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Nancy Pelosi’s husband denies running through stop sign before DUI crash

Mr Pelosi was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence

Graig Graziosi
Tuesday 31 May 2022 16:41 BST
DUI Arrest Of Pelosi's Husband Came After California Crash

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband was reportedly picked up for drunk driving over the holiday weekend, and now he's claiming reports about the incident contain "incorrect information”.

On Sunday night, Paul Pelosi, the husband of the House speaker, was reportedly on his way home from a party in Napa County, California, when his 2021 Porsche was hit by a Jeep.

Thankfully no one was hurt and the California Highway Patrol ruled neither party was at immediate fault for the accident. It's unclear from the available reports if Mr Pelosi failed a field sobriety test or if another incident tipped police off to his condition, but he allegedly had a blood alcohol content of at least 0.08 per cent.

Police arrested Mr Pelosi, who was charged with two misdemeanours.

On Tuesday, Mr Pelosi's spokesman, Larry Kamer, suggested that reports about his client contained "incorrect information."

“Several news reports about Saturday night’s traffic incident involving Paul Pelosi have included incorrect information,” Mr Kamer said in a statement, according to The Daily Beast.

According to Mr Kamer, the reports are "erroneously" attributing a past traffic infraction to the wrong Mr Pelosi. Mr Kamer is not specific as to what information, exactly, is being misattributed, but he did appear on Fox News and was insistant that Mr Pelosi did not run a stop sign and cause the traffic accident.

Some early reports claimed that Mr Pelosi blew through a stop sign, which resulted in the Jeep clipping his rear bumper.

“A prior driving offense erroneously attributed to Mr Pelosi is untrue and likely refers to an unrelated person with the same name. This error must be corrected,” he said. “There are also incorrect reports that misstate the timing of events.”

Mr Kamer said Mr Pelosi was “fully cooperative” with the CHP, who he claims arrived at the scene of the crash moments after it occurred.

The CHP reports say the crash happened at 10.26pm, just 10 minutes after Mr Pelosi left a party. However, he was arrested more than an hour later, at 11.44pm.

Ultimately, Mr Pelosi was released on a $5,000 bail.

Ms Pelosi said she was on the East Coast at the time of the incident and she has thus far refused to comment on her husband’s DUI arrest.

“The speaker will not be commenting on this private matter which occurred while she was on the East Coast,” Drew Hammill, her spokesman, told The Daily Beast.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in