David DePape said he wanted to “talk” with then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi but attacked her husband when he learned she was still in Washington.
A federal jury in California found the man charged with beating former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul with a hammer guilty on all charges, including attempted kidnapping of the speaker.
Paul Pelosi, 83, suffered a skull fracture in early morning attack on October 28, 2022, just days before the midterm elections. David DePape, 43, testified during the trial that he only wanted to talk with Nancy Pelosi about Russian interference in the 2016 elections and that he attacked her husband “because my plan was basically ruined,”
“I’m sorry that he got hurt,” he said,
Paul Pelosi testified that he was at the couple’s San Francisco home alone while his wife was still in Washington, D.C. He said DePape burst through his bedroom door holding a knife and zip ties, repeatedly demanding, “Where’s Nancy?”
Pelosi alerted dispatchers by secretly dialing 911 and then making statements indicating there was a problem, “What’s going on? Why are you here? What are you going to do to me?” Pelosi reportedly said during the encounter with a dispatcher.
Part of the assault was captured on police body camera. The video showed Pelosi and DePape struggle over the hammer before DePape gained control of it, while officers ordered him to put the hammer down. He did not.
The assailant told investigators he was “going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her,” authorities said. If she told the truth, he said he “would let her go, and if she ‘lied,’ he was going to break ‘her kneecaps.’”
DePape was found guilty of attempted kidnapping and assault on account of a federal official’s performance of official duties. He faces a maximum of 20 years and 30 years on the two charges.
DePape has pleaded not guilty to state charges of attempted murder, residential burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon. A trial date has not been set.
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