Paul Pelosi and Nancy Pelosi at Lincoln Center on April 23, 2019. Paul Pelosi was attacked on Friday morning at his San Francisco home.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
The DOJ charged the suspect who broke into Nancy Pelosi’s home and attacked her husband with assault and attempted kidnapping.
David DePape is also facing separate state charges of attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, and burglary.
One of the federal charges carries a maximum sentence of 30 years and the other a maximum of 20 years.
The Justice Department has charged David Wayne DePape with assault and attempted kidnapping connected to the break-in at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home on Friday.
According to a DOJ news release, DePape is being charged with one count of assault of an immediate family member of a US official with the intent to retaliate against the official on account of the performance of official duties. He was also charged with one count of attempted kidnapping of a US official on account of the performance of official duties. The first count carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years, and the second carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
DePape broke into Pelosi’s home early Friday morning and shouted, “Where is Nancy?” at her husband, Paul Pelosi. The House speaker was in Washington, DC at the time, along with her protective detail.
Police said they observed DePape hit Paul Pelosi in the head with a hammer, at which point they arrested him. State prosecutors have charged him with attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, and burglary.
An FBI affidavit accompanying the federal complaint against DePape on Monday said investigators believe he “was prepared to detain and injure Speaker Pelosi when he entered the Pelosi residence” on Friday. He had “zip ties, tape, rope, and at least one hammer with him that morning,” it continued.
Prosecutors also said that DePape threatened to break the House Speaker’s kneecaps to set an example for other congressional Democrats.
According to the affidavit, DePape told San Francisco Police Department officials in a recorded interview that if Pelosi told him the “truth,” he would let her go, and that if she “lied,” he was going to break “her kneecaps.”
DePape “was certain that Nancy would not have told the ‘truth,'” the affidavit said. He told SFPD officials he saw Pelosi as the “‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party,” and he later said that by breaking the House Speaker’s kneecaps, “she would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other Members of Congress there were consequences to actions,” according to the affidavit.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.