When Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul was picked up for drunk driving near Yountville, California a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t even bother writing anything about it. The affairs of the spouses of politicians – and even more so their children – are not political news of interest in my opinion, unless their actions have some impact on the government. While we don’t encourage anyone to drink and drive, this sounded like a fairly minor affair where nobody was injured. But do you know what can change my mind and make a story like this potentially newsworthy? That will happen if the police start acting like there could be some sort of coverup on the way. And while it’s too soon to say, some of the responses that the media has been receiving from the California Highway Patrol are certainly coming across as less than transparent in what should be a very basic, essentially open-and-shut case. (NY Post)
Authorities in California have refused to release any footage showing the DUI arrest of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, saying it could “jeopardize” the investigation.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) on Thursday denied a public records request seeking the release of body and dashboard camera video documenting Paul Pelosi’s arrest last month on suspicion of drunk driving.
CHP informed Fox News Digital in a letter that it has the footage in question, “however, the Napa County District Attorney’s Office has advised the release of records would jeopardize an ongoing investigation.”
In a separate press release Thursday, the DA’s Office said that it has not decided yet what, if any, charges, will be filed against the 82-year-old businessman.
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I understand why Fox News might want to get hold of the body camera and dashcam footage of the arrest. The story has an obvious hook to it since Paul Pelosi is married to the Speaker of the House. What’s surprising is the fact that CHP is refusing to release the footage to the press two weeks after the fact. Further, the idea that releasing the footage might “compromise an ongoing investigation” sounds farcical.
Unless all of the initial reporting and CHP’s own earlier statements were completely wrong, how much of an “investigation” is required here? They found him at the scene of an accident, he blew something higher than .08 on a breathalyzer test, and they took him to jail and booked him. As unfortunate as the reality may be, roughly 1.5 million people are arrested for DUI in the United States every year on average. It’s a nightly occurrence in pretty much every state in the nation. We’re not talking about solving the Lindbergh baby’s kidnapping here. This should be pretty basic, right?
Then there’s the statement about “what, if any, charges will be filed.” Is that really an issue if you already have the breathalyzer results and there’s no question that he was driving the car? I’m scratching my head at the moment, trying to figure out if there’s any way that the CHP would even consider dropping the charges and giving Pelosi a pass with the eyes of the nation on them. That would look so obviously corrupt that someone would have to call for an investigation.
Not releasing the camera footage for any reason already looks bad enough. Yes, I’m sure it would be embarrassing for Paul Pelosi if that shows up on television for a few weeks, but it would be the same for anyone who found themselves in that position because of their poor judgment. You apologize, keep your head down for a while, and move on with your life. With the kind of money the Pelosis have pulled in over the years, I’m sure Paul can afford to keep a driver on hand until he gets his license back.
Perhaps this delay is being caused by something else and the CHP is planning on moving ahead with the standard charges. If that’s the case, then we should have no problem with it. You’ll likely not hear another peep out of me about the situation. But if the charges against Paul Pelosi mysteriously disappear along with the police camera footage, than this will have become a seriously bigger story.
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