David DePape, the man who was captured on body-camera footage striking Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s husband in the head with a hammer after breaking into his home last fall, was found guilty Thursday of a pair of federal charges.
The conviction means DePape, who was charged with assault on an immediate family member of a federal official and attempted kidnapping of a federal official, could spend the rest of his life in a federal prison. He still faces a separate state trial on charges that include attempted murder, residential burglary, and threats to a public official.
A dozen jurors deliberated for seven hours over two days before reaching their decision, which was unanimous. Law 360 reported that DePape looked down and clasped his hands as he heard the verdict, showing no emotion.
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Nancy Pelosi’s office released a statement after the verdict, saying they were “very proud” of how Paul Pelosi handled himself in the courtroom and in the year that followed the attack.
“The Pelosi family is very proud of their Pop, who demonstrated extraordinary composure and courage on the night of the attack a year ago and in the courtroom this week,” it said. “Thankfully, Mr. Pelosi continues to make progress in his recovery.”
DePape’s trial wrapped up shortly after he gave dizzying, tearful testimony about his motive for the assault, which he admitted carrying out. He explained that he went down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories after listening to right-wing podcasts on YouTube, and said that he truly believed Nancy Pelosi and others—like the actor Tom Hanks and California Gov. Gavin Newsom—were corrupt and caught up in pedophilia, and he wanted to save the country from it.
DePape’s defense attorney, Jodi Linker, conceded in the trial’s opening statements that it wasn’t a case of “whodunit,” with there being clear video evidence that DePape broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco home and severely injured Pelosi, who was 82 at the time.
Instead, Linker argued that DePape should be found not guilty on purely legal grounds, insisting that the charges brought against him did not fit the crime. She claimed DePape’s attack wasn’t driven by Nancy Pelosi’s position as a congresswoman, but was because he truly believed—as “bizarre, misguided, and unthoughtful” as it sounds—that she was tied up in a twisted, ruling-class corruption scheme.
“The reason he acted had nothing to do with Nancy Pelosi [and her] official duties as a member of Congress,” she said during the trial. “The reason, the why of all of this, had everything to do with the ruling class engaged in corruption. The media spreading lies.”
DePape, wiping away tears, testified that Paul Pelosi was never his intended target, adding that he felt bad that he assaulted such an “amiable gentleman.” He claimed that he broke into the Pelosis’ home to talk to them about wealth, power, corruption, and the preservation of truth—not to kidnap or attack them.
DePape insisted that he only struck Pelosi in the head—in the clear view of cops and their body cameras—out of anger because he realized his bonkers plan, to confront what he perceived to be corrupt elites, had been thwarted.
Prosecutors largely dismissed DePape’s and Linker’s arguments, and instead focused on the facts of the case—that DePape smashed a window to break into a lawmaker’s home carrying duct tape and zip ties, yelled out “Where’s Nancy?” as he searched the home, and knocked Pelosi unconscious with a hammer after learning his wife wasn’t home (she was in Washington).
“It was a violent plan—a plan to kidnap Nancy Pelosi to hold her hostage, to break her kneecaps, to teach her a lesson,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Vartain Horn in her opening statement, citing DePape’s past statements to police.
The prosecution played portions of those statements, in which DePape could be heard detailing his hatred for Nancy Pelosi. Vartain Horn said it was clear that his anger stemmed from Nancy Pelosi’s work in the House of Representatives, including her refusal to declare that Donald Trump won the 2020 election.
Those details, prosecutors argued, were enough to prove that DePape came to the Pelosis’ home on Oct. 28, 2022, to harm an elected official. In a jailhouse interview with a local TV station in January, DePape didn’t show remorse for the assault, saying his only regret was that he couldn’t injure more of his perceived enemies.
“I have an important message for everyone in America: ‘You’re welcome,’” he said. “I would also like to apologize… I’m so sorry I couldn’t get more of them.”
Pelosi testified during the trial, recalling to jurors how he “woke up in a pool” of his own blood after DePape’s strike. Body-camera footage showed him lying on the ground unconscious as cops moved in to subdue DePape.
Pelosi said DePape, who broke into the home around 2 a.m., confronted him as he lay in bed.
“The door opened and a very large man came in with a hammer in one hand and some ties in the other hand,” Pelosi testified. “And he said, ‘Where’s Nancy?’”
Pelosi said he immediately recognized he was in danger, but he tried to keep his cool so he wouldn’t set DePape off. DePape acknowledged Pelosi’s cool demeanor, testifying that he believed they “kinda had a good rapport going” at first.
Pelosi said the attack had left him shaken. He testified that he rarely talks about what happened and still suffers from headaches and dizziness.
“I’ve made the best effort possible to not relive this,” he said.
