Democratic House speaker’s office says husband ‘violently assaulted’ early on Friday by suspect who is now in police custody

Paul Pelosi, the husband of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was taken to hospital early on Friday after an attack took place at the couple’s home in San Francisco.

Pelosi’s office said he was “violently assaulted” by an attacker who broke into the Pelosi home.

“The assailant is in custody and the motivation for the attack is under investigation,” the office of the longtime Democratic congresswoman and House speaker said.

In a statement, Pelosi’s spokesperson Drew Hammill said her husband, 82, was “receiving excellent medical care and is expected to make a full recovery”. Hammill said Nancy Pelosi was not in San Francisco at the time of the attack.

“The speaker and her family are grateful to the first responders and medical professionals involved, and request privacy at this time,” Hammill said.

Paul Pelosi is a businessman who runs his own real estate and venture capital investment firm, Financial Leasing Services, based in San Francisco. He met Nancy D’Alesandro when they were both students in Washington DC, and they married in 1963. They have five children.

Nancy Pelosi has had two stints as speaker of the US House, between 2007 to 2011 and since January 2019. She represents California’s 12th congressional district.