The man accused of bludgeoning former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer in Oct. 2022 was driven by a “bizarre, misguided plan” based on the right-wing conspiracy theories with which he’d become obsessed in the months leading up to the brutal attack, according to his own defense lawyer.
The federal trial against David DePape opened on Thursday, with public defender Jodi Linker saying in her opening salvo that, though the evidence against her client was clear, the prosecution’s version of events was not the whole story.
“What matters is what brought David to that house—what David believed and what he intended,” she said. “This is not a whodunit. But what the government fails to acknowledge is the ‘whydunit,’ and the why matters in this case.”
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DePape, 43, is facing two federal felonies: attempted kidnapping of a U.S. official and assault on an immediate family member of the official in retaliation for performance of her job. If convicted, he faces life in prison, according to the Associated Press. The trial is expected to last roughly a week.
He has yet to go on trial for the state charges separately filed against him by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, which include attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and elder abuse.
DePape has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Linkler began his opening statements to the jury with a bizarre and troubling line: “Tom Hanks, the actor, raped a 13-year-old girl.”
He then proceeded to list off a series of incredible conspiracy theories ripped straight from the fringe right-wing websites he allegedly frequented.
“Members of the jury, many of us do not believe any of that,” she finally conceded. “You may think it is all lies. But the evidence in this trial will show that Mr. DePape believes all these these things… with every ounce of his being.”
Linker told the jury on Thursday that DePape’s attack on Pelosi’s then-82-year-old husband, Paul, “had nothing to do” with the then-Speaker or her duties. Instead, she argued, “the why of all of this” had to do with a broader notion that he was taking action to stop a larger political conspiracy he really, truly believed: That a corrupt ruling elite made up of figures like Hunter Biden, George Soros, and even Tom Hanks were actively harming children and subverting American democracy.
“He did something wrong, something horrible,” Linker said, according to The Washington Post, “but he did not commit these two federal charges.”
DePape, a Canadian citizen in the United States illegally, immersed himself in online conspiracies, questioning the results of the 2020 presidential election and ranting ceaselessly and hatefully on an online blog about perceived enemies, including the media, aliens, Democrats, Jews, and Black people.
Prosecutors countered that DePape had indeed been trying to retaliate against Pelosi for her work in the House. “The evidence in this case is going show that when the defendant used this hammer to break into the Pelosis’ home he intended to kidnap Nancy Pelosi,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Vartain Horn told the jury, holding aloft the weapon in a clear plastic bag.
DePape’s “violent plan,” as Vartain Horn laid it out, included holding Pelosi hostage, breaking her kneecaps, and teaching her “a lesson.” According to a criminal complaint filed days after the Oct. 28 attack, DePape told investigators “he viewed Nancy as the ‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party” and that breaking her knees “would show other Members of Congress there were consequences to actions.”
Court documents show that DePape broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco mansion around 2 a.m. and confronted Paul, demanding, “Where’s Nancy? Where’s Nancy?” while holding the hammer and zip ties. After Paul managed to slip into a bathroom and dial 911, two police officers knocked on the door to find both men on the other side. After one of the responding officers asked them to drop the hammer, body camera footage showed, DePape snatched it back and swung it at Paul, hitting him in the head.
Part of the footage was played in court on Thursday, leaving some jurors visibly troubled, according to the Post.
Though Christine Pelosi, one of the couple’s daughters, was in court on Thursday, according to the AP, neither the former Speaker nor her husband made an appearance. Paul Pelosi, who suffered a skull fracture and was seriously wounded on the right arm and hands, injuries that required surgery and six days in the hospital, is expected to testify for the prosecution next week. Also on the list are the police officers who witnessed the assault, the surgeon who treated Pelosi for his injuries, and several first responders.
Included on the defense’s list are DePape, Nancy Pelosi’s chief of staff, and “Target 1,” the as-yet unidentified person whom DePape allegedly wanted to “lure… out” by taking Pelosi hostage, according to Linker. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said earlier this month that “the odds that Target 1 is known are going to be slim,” Politico reported.
Nancy Pelosi is not expected to testify, according to court records.
