In an unexpected move Tuesday, the defendant in the Paul Pelosi assault trial in San Francisco was called to the stand by his defense team.
David DePape, accused of assaulting Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer in the couple's San Francisco home last year, was called to the stand early in Tuesday's federal proceedings.
DePape spoke for more than an hour, recounting how his political leanings went from leftist to right-wing after reading a comment on a YouTube video about former President Donald Trump. He did not deny bludgeoning Paul Pelosi, saying he reacted after realizing his larger plan might be unraveling.
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DePape has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of attempting to kidnap a federal official and assaulting a federal official’s family member. His attorneys argue that he was not seeking to go after Nancy Pelosi because of her official duties as a member of Congress and so the charges do not fit.
During his testimony, DePape got emotional and struggled to get through it when he started talking about his political views. He talked about how he would listen to political podcasts and watch videos for hours.
"When Bush was in office, I thought 9/11 was an inside job. … There’s this truth out there, I want to know it. … I searched for lies about Trump," he said.
When asked about who else was on his "target list" in addition to the Pelosis and "target one," DePape listed many names, including "Tom Hanks, Mike Pence, Bernie, Hunter Biden, Gavin Newsom."
DePape, 43, later said Paul Pelosi was not on his target list and that he "wasn't trying to hurt him." Hunter Biden was at the top of the list, he said.
"I (expletive) love Hunter Biden. There's so much corruption. The FBI was covering up corruption," DePape said.
DePape testified that his plan was to get Nancy Pelosi and other targets to admit to their corruption and eventually get President Joe Biden to pardon them all.
"It’s just easier giving them a pardon so we can move forward as a country," he said, crying.
The prosecution, during its cross examination, established that DePape looked up Nancy Pelosi's home through various searches and articles. It then showed the hammer, rope and duct tape DePape had with him the night of the attack.
Defense attorneys have listed four other possible witnesses: Daniel Bernal, Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco chief of staff; extremism and antisemitism researcher Elizabeth Yates; federal public defender Catherine Goulet; and one unidentified witness.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
