Adam Kinzinger has called out Elon Musk for spreading bogus claims about the horrific hammer attack on Paul Pelosi after police bodycam footage was released on Friday.
The graphic clip showed a suspect identified as David DePape, 42, wildly strike the 82-year-old husband of Nancy Pelosi over the head at his San Francisco home on 28 October last year.
In the aftermath of the assault, Mr Musk amplified a “deranged” conspiracy theory that the two men were romantically involved.
“There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye,” Mr Musk tweeted, before quietly deleting the post days later.
Footage of the attack, audio from a 911 call made by Mr Pelosi, and surveillance video showing an intruder bash his way into the home confirmed what had already been extensively detailed in court documents and police filings over the past three months.
After the footage was released, Mr Kinzinger, the former Republican Congressman from Illinois, tweeted: “Hey @elonmusk care to react to the Pelosi video? You spread the big conspiracy.”
Mr Musk did not immediately respond, but in a series of tweets posted afterwards he attacked media outlets for “misleading the public” and boosted the latest release of internal documents from Twitter.
While far from alone in spreading fake rumours about the assault, Mr Musk gave them added credence by sharing them with his vast social media following and has never publicly acknowledged or apologised for it.
Similarly, Republican lawmakers and rightwing commentators who claimed Democrats and the San Francisco Police Department had been engaged in a cover-up to sway the midterm elections have been conspicuously quiet about the release of the evidence.
Mr Pelosi suffered a fractured skull and was spent six nights in hospital after the attack.
On Friday, Ms Pelosi thanked well-wishers for their support and prayers, and said her husband was still recovering from the injuries.
