SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — During closing arguments Wednesday in the trial of the man who broke into Nancy Pelosi's home and attacked her husband Paul, prosecutors replayed evidence they say proves defendant David DePape had intended to interfere with the house speaker's duties.
DePape faces two federal charges: assault on an immediate family member of a federal official and attempted kidnapping of a federal official. The nature of the charges requires the jury to believe that DePape was specifically motivated to carry out his attack due to Pelosi's position of a member of Congress, and not just because of his political beliefs in general, or some other reason.
On Oct. 28, 2022, DePape broke into the Pelosi's home and hit Paul with a hammer, fracturing his skull. DePape testified Tuesday that he had intended to interrogate the house speaker that night and planned to break her kneecaps if she lied.
Prosecutors Wednesday showed the jury graphic images of Paul’s injuries and replayed surveillance footage that showed DePape smashing his way into the Pelosi home with a hammer and placing zip tie restraints in his pocket.
Prosecutor Helen Gilbert said they had more than met their burden to prove that DePape went to the residence specifically to retaliate against Nancy Pelosi because of the performance of her official duties and to impede her from carrying out those duties.
Paul Pelosi was attacked “only because his wife had an important job. She was the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the leader of the Democratic Party in the House. And because of her job the defendant targeted her,” Gilbert said. “He researched her, he researched her family, he found where she lived, and he smashed his way into her home.”
In her closing arguments, Public Defender Angela Chuang said that DePape did not target the former House Speaker because of her official duties and didn't even know what Nancy Pelosi did as a leading member of Congress. He saw her frequently on television, thought she lied about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and decided to act, Change said.
The defense attorney told the jury that although DePape did attack Paul Pelosi after breaking into the home, the burden of proof was on the government to conclusively prove that DePape had intended to interfere with Pelosi’s duties when he broke into the house, and the government had failed to do so.
“They spent their entire case proving facts that were never disputed,” Chuang said.
Instead, Chuang said DePape had an overarching plan to attack multiple politicians and liberal thinkers, including Gavin Newsom and Tom Hanks, because he considered them to be part of a cabal that controlled the government and molested children.
“She was just one part of a larger plan to rule out the corruption of the ruling class, the cabal, to stop the molestation of children,” Chuang said.
She asked the jury to put aside their emotions about the violence in the case and focus on the interference with official duties stipulation in the charges. Such duties are narrowed to voting on bills, meeting with constituents, and other governmental duties, she said, adding that if DePape did not interfere with any of those tasks, he did not interfere with Nancy Pelosi's official duties.
“Holding office is not the same as performing official duties of office,” Chuang said.
In her rebuttal, Gilbert said that Chuang’s interpretation of the charges was too narrow and did not make logical sense.
“There’s no reason to believe this distinction the defense made up has anything to do with the jury deliberations,” she said.
Gilbert reminded the jury that DePape used the word “Congress” multiple times in police interviews when he admitted to the attack, and he specifically said he wanted Nancy Pelosi to be wheeled onto the floors of Congress after he broke her kneecaps, as a warning to other “evil” politicians.
“Would he have gone to her house if she was a regular citizen? No. He deliberately targeted her because of her job, because of her role in our political system, because of her duties,” Gilbert said.
She added said that even if the jury did accept Chuang’s narrow version of the charges, they still must find DePape guilty.
Gilbert reminded the jury that Pelosi had a stacked official itinerary on the day of the attack, and all of her plans had to be canceled so she could fly home from Washington, D.C. and be with her husband.
The jury left for deliberations in the early afternoon, but did not deliver a verdict Wednesday, and will continue deliberations tomorrow.
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