Pelosi's little problem

[AZRedhawk44]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hzaRXQdcub1UIBXRbYBYQAayAaQAD9EV31S00

SAN FRANCISCO — A man accused of threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in phone calls cried Thursday during a court appearance where a magistrate initially refused his request to be released to a halfway house.

Gregory Lee Giusti, 48, of San Francisco looked disheveled in a gray T-shirt and khakis as he appeared for the first time before Magistrate Judge Bernard Zimmerman.

"Some of these threats are very serious," Zimmerman said before denying Giusti's request to be released to the halfway house. He said Giusti may suffer from bipolar disorder and should be receiving treatment.

The magistrate, however, told the U.S. attorney's office to interview Giusti further to determine if he was mentally competent enough to be released to a halfway house or if he should continue to be detained.

A detention hearing was scheduled for Monday.

Giusti is charged with making obscene, threatening or harassing phone calls to a member of Congress.

No plea was entered Thursday, and Giusti did not speak, except to say and spell his name when asked. He is being held without bail.

Giusti is accused of making the calls to Pelosi because of anger over health care reform. He was arrested Wednesday at a single-room occupancy public housing complex in San Francisco where he lived for the past nine years.

Giusti sat in a jury box Thursday speaking with a federal public defender before the hearing. The magistrate appointed counsel for Giusti after determining he could not afford to hire a lawyer.

If convicted, Giusti could receive a two-year prison sentence, $250,000 fine and one year of supervised release.

During an interview in New York, Pelosi said she doesn't know more than she did when she found out Wednesday about the arrest. She declined further comment on the case, citing the ongoing investigation.

Federal officials have said Giusti made dozens of calls to Pelosi's homes and to her husband's business office. The officials said Giusti recited Pelosi's home address and said if she wanted to see it again, she should not support the health care overhaul bill that since has been enacted.

Giusti has had legal troubles in the past because of threatening behavior.

In 2004 he was sentenced to a year in jail for a felony violation of threatening to kill a conductor on a commuter train, authorities said.

Last year, Hamilton Square Baptist Church in San Francisco sued Giusti, asking a court to order him to cease a campaign of harassment against people associated with the church, court documents show.

During Thursday's hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Frey said Giusti had other convictions for theft and telephone harassment.

How do the two bolded sections jive?

If he's lived at his current address for 9 years, how did he serve a year in jail?

Or, is this the system not actually putting a criminal behind bars for his sentence?

Or, do people on public housing retain their address when in prison?

Sheesh.

Also:  This guy was on public housing and on the dole.  He obviously doesn't have a problem with taking my tax money already... why should he care if he takes any more of my tax money?  He's not going to be the sacrificial ox for this bill.  He can't even afford his own lawyer.

What a whack-job.

[Nitrogen]

Pelosi's main problem is she's a horrible legislator.  You'd be surprised how many people in her own district don't like her.  That guy might be insane, but he's sane enough to hate her.

Seriously, though, I'm sure they weren't counting the stint in jail.  He probably went from the halfway house to jail, and came right back.  SF is full of those.

[French G.]

Free association. I read the thread title and immediately thought "Botox!"

The Baltimore papers of the 30s-50s are largely unsearchable on the internet as far as I can tell. If I could sit down in the archives I think I'd have a big Pelosi problem in blog form all about her political learning ground at her dad's knee, as a US representative then mayor of Baltimore. I don't think you hold those positions in that era as a 2nd generation Italian-American without a looot of connections. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,860626-1,00.html

[209]

I saw the city- San Francisco" and the "living in subsided housing" and I couldn't make a connection to the evil, violence prone ta party member than the media is attempting to make.  I immediately thought he was a deranged liberal. 

It'll be funny if someone uncovers that aspect of the guy's political leaning.  After all, as many people know, tea party members tend to eschew violence and leave that type of action to the other guys.  Violence is usually the method used by finger-biting protesters and three-on-one assaulting crowds made up of public union members. 

[RileyCA]

Pelosi's main problem is she's a horrible legislator.

As evidenced by the recent passage of healthcare reform. 

[Nitrogen]

As evidenced by the recent passage of healthcare reform. 

...that nobody likes.  Half think it's socialist, and the other half think it's not socialist enough.  Hence...