By JASON DEAREN and DEVLIN BARRETT (AP) 1 hour ago SAN FRANCISCO The FBI arrested a California man Wednesday for allegedly making threatening and harassing phone calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over health care reform, law enforcement officials said.
Gregory Lee Giusti, 48, was arrested at his San Francisco home shortly after noon, said Joseph Schadler, spokesman for the FBI's San Francisco office.
Schadler did not disclose the charges against Giusti, but said he's due before a federal magistrate Thursday morning.
Several federal officials said the man made dozens of calls to Pelosi's homes in California and Washington, as well as to her husband's business office. They said he recited her home address and said if she wanted to see it again, she would not support the health care overhaul bill that since has been enacted.
One official said the man is believed to have spoken directly with Pelosi at least once.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
A call to a Pelosi spokesman was not immediately returned.
On Monday, the House Speaker told a reporters in San Francisco that "people have been active in expressing their disagreement."
Sometimes those expressions have risen "to the level of threats or violence," Pelosi said, explaining that she was not allowed to comment on her own situation.
Rose Riggs, a neighbor of Giusti in a public housing complex in the city's Tenderloin district, said she saw two plainclothes and two uniformed officers take him away in zip-tie cuffs. Riggs, 62, said Giusti was known for engaging in heated political debates with others in the building.
"He was not one of my favorite people. He had a real attitude problem," she said.
On Tuesday, authorities announced charges against a Washington state man who allegedly made threatening calls to Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat. Charges also have been filed against a Philadelphia man who allegedly made a YouTube video threatening Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.