NBC News suspends reporter over retracted story about Paul Pelosi

A correspondent for NBC News was suspended after his today The report detailing the attack on Paul Pelosi was later retracted by the network.

Miguel Almaguer has been suspended over an internal investigation, The Daily Beast reports. A source confirmed the suspension.

An NBC News spokesperson said that “in practice, we generally do not comment on human resources.” Almaguer did not respond to a request for comment.

The report that was broadcast today was on Nov. 4 when Pelosi returned home from the hospital after being beaten by an assailant with a hammer at his home last week. Amaguer reported that House Speaker Paul Pelosi’s husband answered the door for police, who responded to a 911 call, but officers were “apparently unaware that they had gone to the house of the House Speaker who had been called.” Pelosi, however, “did not immediately declare an emergency or attempt to leave his home,” but instead “started walking a few feet back into the lobby toward the assailant and away from the police.” “It is unclear whether the 82-year-old was already injured and what his mental state was,” Almaguer reported.

The report quickly spread among right-wing media, which had already raised questions and conspired with the circumstances of the attack.

But the network removed the report from its website later that day. “The article should not have aired because it did not meet NBC News reporting standards,” the network said in a statement.

According to a network insider with knowledge of the situation, the decision to retract the report was made after the main source was found to be unreliable, especially based on what the police saw and how far from the door the attacker was.

The suspect in the attack, David DePape, has pleaded not guilty. He faces multiple state and federal charges, including assault, attempted murder, and attempted kidnapping.

NBC News’ initial report did not confirm the conspiracy theory — that Paul Pelosi knew his attacker — but raised doubts, even though the suspect admitted to the burglary and assault, according to an indictment.

According to the complaint, officers from the San Francisco Police Department arrived at 2:31 a.m. on Oct. 28 and an officer knocked on the front door.

“When the door opened, Pelosi and DePape both held hammers in one hand and DePape held Pelosi’s forearm in the other. Pelosi greeted the officers. The officers asked what was going on. DePape replied that everything was fine. Officers then ordered Pelosi and DePape to drop the gavel.”

DePape pulled the hammer from Pelosi’s hand and swung the hammer, hitting Pelosi in the head. Officers immediately went in and were able to restrain DePape. As officers detained DePape, Pelosi appeared to be unconscious on the floor.”

According to the indictment, the suspect told police that he entered the home through a glass door. DePape told police that when they arrived, Pelosi walked up and opened it. De Pelosi grabbed the hammer in DePape’s hand.

“At this point in the interview, DePape reiterated that DePape had no intention of surrendering and that he would ‘walk’ through Pelosi,” the documents state.

“DePape claimed that he pulled the gavel away from Pelosi and swung the gavel at Pelosi,” the complaint states. “DePape explained that Pelosi’s actions resulted in Pelosi ‘taking the punishment instead.'”

DePape pulled the hammer from Pelosi’s hand and swung the hammer, hitting Pelosi in the head. Officers immediately went in and were able to restrain DePape. As officers detained DePape, Pelosi appeared to be unconscious on the floor.”

According to the indictment, the suspect told police that he entered the home through a glass door. DePape told police that when they arrived, Pelosi walked up and opened it. De Pelosi grabbed the hammer in DePape’s hand.

“At this point in the interview, DePape reiterated that DePape had no intention of surrendering and that he would ‘walk’ through Pelosi,” the documents state.

“DePape claimed that he pulled the gavel away from Pelosi and swung the gavel at Pelosi,” the complaint states. “DePape explained that Pelosi’s actions resulted in Pelosi ‘taking the punishment instead.'”