CNN
—
The man who allegedly attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been charged with assault and attempted kidnapping after breaking into their San Francisco home last week, the US attorney’s office announced Monday.
David DePape, 42, was charged with one count of “attempted kidnapping of a U.S. official,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of California. The case involves Nancy Pelosi, who DePape told police she planned to “take hostage,” according to an FBI affidavit also released Monday.
The maximum sentence for attempted kidnapping is 20 years in prison.
CNN reported that DePape allegedly asked, “Where’s Nancy?” after breaking into their house.
DePape was also charged with one count of assaulting an immediate family member of a US official with intent to retaliate against the official. That charge is related to the charge against Paul Pelosi and carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
The federal charges against DePape are in addition to the state charges that may also be announced on Monday.
CNN reported Monday that Paul Pelosi was interviewed by investigators at the hospital this weekend and was able to provide details of the attack, according to two law enforcement sources and a source familiar with the matter.
Among those interviewed were the FBI and local law enforcement investigators.
A court filing related to the federal charges against DePape reveals the most detailed account of Paul Pelosi’s 911 call as the incident unfolded.
“Pelosi stated that there was a man in the house and that the man would be waiting for Pelosi’s wife. Pelosi also stated that she did not know who the man was. The man said his name was David,” an FBI agent said in an affidavit filed Monday. declared.
Pelosi called 911 at 2:23 a.m. PT Friday, and police arrived at his home eight minutes later, according to the affidavit, which was unsealed Monday.
“When the door opened, Pelosi and DePape both had a hammer in one hand and DePape had the other hand on Pelosi’s arm,” the affidavit said. “Pelosi greeted the officers. The officers asked them what was going on. DePape responded that everything was fine. The officers then asked Pelosi and DePape to drop the hammer.
At that point, DePape allegedly pulled out a hammer and swung it, striking Paul Pelosi in the head. Pelosi “appeared to be unconscious on the floor” after the blow, the affidavit said.
Paul Pelosi was later hospitalized and had “successful surgery to repair a fractured skull and severe injuries to his right arm and hands,” according to an earlier press release from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. They said they expect Paul Pelosi to make a full recovery.
CNN previously reported that Pelosi was able to keep the line open with 911, the dispatcher could hear a conversation in the background, and that Pelosi was speaking in code to help authorities understand what was going on.
“DePape was preparing to detain and injure Speaker Pelosi when he entered Pelosi’s residence in the early morning hours of October 28, 2022,” the FBI agent said in the affidavit. “DePape had chainsaws, tape, rope and at least a hammer with him that morning.”
DePape has yet to plead guilty to the assault.
According to the criminal complaint filed in court, DePape admitted in an interview with local police that he wanted to find the Speaker of the House and take her hostage.
“DePape stated that he would take Nancy hostage and talk to her. If Nancy told DePape ‘the truth,’ he would let her go, and if she ‘lied,'” an FBI affidavit filed with the complaint said. ‘, he would ‘break her knee’.
“DePape was convinced that Nancy would not tell the ‘truth,'” the FBI rumor.
The affidavit further stated that DePape told police that Nancy Pelosi was the “leader of the pack” of lies promoted by the Democratic Party. DePape told police that other members of Congress would see the consequences of their actions when Pelosi, with broken knees, would “crash” into the House chamber, according to the affidavit.
The interview was conducted by the San Francisco Police Department on Friday, the day of the attack, according to court documents. According to the documents, DePape was read his Miranda rights before he spoke to police and confessed his intention to kidnap the top Democrat in the House.
The federal filings unsealed Monday also debunk a conspiracy theory about Pelosi’s attack that was previously shared on Twitter by her billionaire owner Elon Musk.
The conspiracy theory, among other things, claimed that Paul Pelosi knew his attacker. Musk tweeted a link to an article introducing the theory on Sunday, though he later deleted it.
The FBI affidavit, unsealed Monday alongside the federal charges, says Pelosi told the 911 dispatcher during the call that “she doesn’t know who the guy is” who broke into his home.
Additionally, the affidavit said officers from the San Francisco Police Department interviewed Pelosi in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, and he said, “He had never seen (David) DePape before.”
Earlier Monday, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott told CNN’s Ana Cabrera that Paul Pelosi did not know the suspect. The police chief said the conspiracy theories about the case were “baseless” and “harmful” to the ongoing investigation.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
