Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
- Nancy Pelosi had priests perform an exorcism of her home after her husband was attacked in October.
- Her daughter told The New York Times that Pelosi felt guilty as the assailant had been targeting her.
- Pelosi said it would be three or four more months before her husband is "back to normal."
Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had Catholic priests perform an exorcism of her house after her husband was attacked by an assailant looking for her in October, her daughter told The New York Times.
"I think that weighed really heavy on her soul. I think she felt really guilty. I think that really broke her," their daughter Alexandra Pelosi told the paper.
"Over Thanksgiving, she had priests coming, trying to have an exorcism of the house and having prayer services," said Alexandra Pelosi. Nancy Pelosi has spoken openly about her Catholic faith.
Paul Pelosi was hospitalized with a skull fracture after being attacked at the couple's San Francisco home with a hammer.
San Francisco District Attorney
Federal prosecutors allege that David DePape, the man charged with the attack, told investigators he wanted to break Nancy Pelosi's kneecaps as an example to other Democratic members of Congress.
"The fact that they were after me, and then they hit him," Nancy Pelosi told The New York Times. "He's a strong person, athletic. This has been tough. It's going to be about three or four more months before he's really back to normal."
She told the paper that it was difficult having had her home turned into "a crime scene."
Stephen Rossetti, the exorcist for the Archdiocese of Washington, told Catholic News Agency that the exorcism of a place is "specifically used when there is a demonic infestation."
He explained that any priest could "expel demons" from a house, as opposed to an exorcism of a person, which requires permission from their bishop.
DePape has pleaded not guilty to various state and federal charges, including the attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault of an immediate family member of a federal official.
Police have released footage of the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi following authorization from a court.
Pelosi said in a statement on Friday that she has "absolutely no intention of seeing the deadly assault on my husband's life."
DePape also made clear in a new jailhouse interview, released the same day as the police bodycam footage, that his actions were politically motivated by his hatred of Democrats.