Paul Pelosi, husband of former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, provided chilling details in federal court Monday on the night he was allegedly attacked and hammered by a man now on trial for attempted murder. kidnapping and assault.

Paul Pelosi, 83, took the stand on the second day of the federal trial against David DePape, who faces federal charges of attempting to kidnap the Democratic congresswoman and assaulting her husband with the intent to interfere with legislative official duties or take revenge on her.

A man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi and fueling right-wing conspiracies faces a jury in San Francisco

DePape, 43, is accused of traveling from his Richmond residence to the Pelosis’ San Francisco home in the early morning of October. On August 28, 2022, a search began for the lawmaker, reportedly with plans to take her hostage and interrogate her about far-right conspiracy theories involving the Democratic Party and a list of politicians and public figures.

Instead of finding

the

Nancy Pelosi, who was in Washington at the time, wandered through the quiet Pacific Heights home before coming across a bedroom with her

to sleep

husband

sleep indoors

.

“The door opened and a very large man walked in, with a hammer in one hand and a pair of ties in the other,” Paul Pelosi testified. “And he said, ‘Where’s Nancy?’ And I think that’s what woke me up.”

Until then it had been a typical evening.

Paul Pelosi told jurors he went to dinner that night in San Francisco. He went to sleep around 11:30 PM as usual

p.m

and midnight, what a

on the

cup of ice water that he took to bed with him every night. He did not set the alarm system, which the family only used when they were out of town, because it is sensitive and can easily go off in people’s homes.

A few

by

Hours later, Paul Pelosi woke up “in tremendous shock” after realizing “someone had broken into the house.”

“And when I looked at him and looked at the hammer and the ties, I realized I was in serious danger,” he said. “And so I tried to stay as calm as possible.”

Paul Pelosi said he told DePape his wife was in Washington.

“Well, we’d have to wait for her,” Paul Pelosi said, to which DePape responded.

DePape told Paul Pelosi that his wife was the “leader of the pack” and that “he had to take her out,” he testified. Because she wasn’t home, Paul Pelosi said DePape told him to tie him up and wait for her.

“He had these cords in his hand. I guess he was going to use that,” he said.

Paul Pelosi said he first tried to go to the elevator outside the couple’s bedroom, which contained a telephone. But DePape understood, Paul Pelosi said, so instead he walked to his bathroom where he charged his cell phone every night.

He called 911, but didn’t feel like he could be honest with the dispatcher about the situation. DePape still had the gavel and demanded that Paul Pelosi tell the dispatcher that he was just a family friend.

According to his court testimony, Paul Pelosi hung up the 911 call and tried to talk to the intruder. DePape said he was tired and wanted to tie up Paul Pelosi so he could get some sleep. Paul Pelosi suggested that the two men walk downstairs, where DePape left his two backpacks and other belongings. Paul Pelosi said he knew that if police came, they would have to go downstairs where it would be easier to arrest the suspect.

“He was sitting on my right and then

“

H

He said, ‘Oh, the police are coming here, it’s over for me, I’m going to have to get you out,’ that kind of thing,” Paul Pelosi said DePape told him. “I said, ‘No, that’s probably not the case.’ going to come. They probably won’t come.’

“And then the police showed up at the door.”

Police body camera footage shows Paul Pelosi holding his cup of water and opening the door as DePape stands next to him. The two fought for control of the hammer, which officers ordered them to drop.

DePape instead

forcibly seized

it from Paul Pelosi and swung it at his head several times, fracturing his skull and causing injuries to his arm and hand. Photo and video evidence shown to the jury Thursday shows Paul Pelosi lying in a swimming pool of his

own

blood, struggling to breathe as police tackled DePape.

He was hospitalized at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital for more than a week for a broken ankle and other injuries. He received about ten stitches on the back of his right side

H

poor, he said, and

a

his badly damaged left hand was also treated. Paul Pelosi told jurors that the plastic surgeon was able to reconstruct his hand and avoid skin grafts, while his recovery from head injuries included regaining his balance and “walking again.”

Paul Pelosi recounted the attack as his daughter, Christine Pelosi, sat in the back corner of the courtroom and as DePape watched alongside his lawyers.

Despite the explicit testimony and evidence, the trial is

considered

far from an easy assault case. Prosecutors bear the burden of proving that the attack was due to Nancy Pelosi’s role as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Hello DePape

meant to kidnap her

that evening

after breaking into the lawmaker’s home.

Assistant

Assistant. U.S. Atty. Laura Vartain Horn told the federal court jury in her opening arguments Thursday that DePape had gone to the couple’s home that early morning with the idea to take Nancy Pelosi hostage, break her kneecaps and teach her a lesson.

When the defendant broke into the speaker house, he had a plan, Horn told the jury of 12 men and three women. It was a violent plan.

But federal public defenders Jodi Linker and Angela Chuang have disputed the argument that DePape planned to kidnap Nancy Pelosi or attack Paul Pelosi because of his wife’s official position in Congress.

Instead, they claim that the Pelosi House was the first stop in a broader plan to end the corruption and other crimes he believed were being committed by the Democratic Party, officials and celebrities.

DePape’s plan was to use Nancy Pelosi to put an end to his QAnon-like theory that Democratic politicians and government officials were abusing and trafficking children.

the jury was told

.

‘This is not a who

did it

,”

do not know,”

Linker told the jury in her opening argument. It was a “why did it,” she said, “and the why is important.”

In addition to the federal criminal case, DePape faces separate charges including assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary and threats against a government official and his family.

Paul Pelosi said he has largely recovered from his injuries but continues to suffer from dizziness and headaches.

“There are still lumps on my head. When I run my fingers I can still feel dents and lumps,” he said. “They’re not as sensitive to touch as they used to be.”

The recovery process was “very painful,” he said.

and not something he likes to think too much about or talk about with anyone.

He said he hadn’t read it

the

news of the incident, nor had he listened to the tapes or watched the videos.

“I’ve been trying to put it out of my mind,” he said, taking occasional breaks to continue his composition.

“I tried my hardest not to relive this.”

The attack

yourself

has sparked new conspiracies and led to political attacks against the Pelosi family, including by former President Trump.

And [Nancy Pelosi’s] against building a wall on our border even though she has a wall around her house,” Trump said, cheering and shouting during a speech at the California Republican Party convention in September. “Which clearly didn’t do a good job.