As we reported earlier, Paul Pelosi — the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) — finally pled guilty on Tuesday to one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence. His punishment? Five days in jail, three years probation, a three-month drunk driving program, and one year with an ignition interlock device. He also has to pay restitution. But as we noted, the “five-day” sentence is a misnomer. Because he was arrested before midnight on May 28 and then let go around 7 a.m., he got credit for “two days served.” Then he got two days for “conduct credit.” So he’ll have to serve in one, eight-hour work program-probably doing something cushy.
But now, the video of the arrest is finally out, and it shows just how smashed Pelosi was. Indeed, he’s barely able to stand; he has to hold onto the car as he struggles not to fall. The officer is trying to give him instructions about the sobriety test, and he’s just not absorbing it — it’s that bad.
The video backs up what the police had reported in the complaint-that he was slurring his speech and there were “objective” signs of intoxication. Pelosiclaimed to the officer that he had a “glass of champagne” before dinner and also “a glass of white.” But it looks like a whole lot more than that. He told them he finished drinking around 8 p.m. but the crash happened around 10:17 p.m. He refused to take a breath test at the scene. But even after stops at the hospital and the county jail, his blood alcohol taken over two hours later at around 12:32 was still over the legal limit at .082.
Pelosi totaled both his car and the car of the other driver. You can see pictures of how he trashed his car and that of the other driver here.
Paul Pelosi had bruises on his arms.
While both declined treatment at the scene, the other driver later was suffering pain in his upper right arm, right shoulder, and neck the day after the crash. He also complained of headaches and said it was difficult to lift things with his right arm, according to the complaint.
Pelosi was lucky he didn’t kill himself and the other driver, when you look at the significant damage to his car and that of the other driver. Yet he’s getting nothing more than a slap on the wrist for something that caused significant damage-and what sounds like a possibly serious injury to the other driver-because they charged him with a misdemeanor rather than a felony, where it could have gone.