Gregory Giusti of San Francisco allegedly called Speaker Nancy Pelosi at least 48 times over a seven week period and in one voicemail left at her Washington home warned,”If you like your home in [Northern California], don’t vote for the healthcare bill,” according to an affidavit supporting the criminal complaint unsealed today.
Giusti, 48, is charged with making harassing and threatening telephone calls to a government official. During an initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco today Giusti wept but did not make any remarks.
Pelosi told agents that in one case she picked up the phone in her Washington home and Giusti “used extremely vulgar and crude language and threatened her, stating ‘when you go back to California you won’t have a home to go back to,'” the complaint alleges.
This section of the complaint details the broad allegations:
“There is probable cause to believe that between February 6, 2010, and March 25, 2010, Congresswoman N.P. (N .P.) received numerous (at least forty-eight) telephone calls to her Washington, D.C. residence, one of her residences in Northern California, her district office in San Francisco, and her husband’s office in San Francisco, all from the same phone number, (757) ***-****. At least thirty of those calls were made to N.P.’s Washington, D.C. residence during the period February 6, 2010, and March 25, 2010, and the unidentified caller left nine voice messages. In two of the recorded messages, the caller made threats to one of N.P.’s residences in Northern California.
Additionally, Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) Bryan S. Smith and Special Agent (SA) Andrew Pecher interviewed N.P. regarding the abusive, harassing, threatening, and obscene telephone calls she had received from the caller. N.P. told the interviewing Agents that on one occasion, she answered the Washington D.C. residence telephone and the caller used extremely vulgar and crude language and threatened her, stating “when you go back to California you won’t have a home to go back to.” Many of the other messages that were recorded included abusive, harassing, and obscene language. The caller was later identified on March 30, 2010, as Gregory Lee Giusti (Giusti).”
Giusti made the alleged calls using an Internet phone service called Magic Jack. During one call to Pelosi’s San Francisco district office, Giusti allegedly claimed, “and the number I’m calling from is untraceable so if you’re trying to trace it have fun.” Authorities did so nevertheless.
TPM’s complete coverage is here.
