On Friday, the San Francisco Superior Court released video and audio recordings of the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, that took place last year. The release of these materials came after a California court ruled that the district attorney's office must make them public. The video and audio files were exhibits in a preliminary court hearing and were released following a motion by a coalition of news organizations, including CNN, who argued that the circumstances involving the residence of the then-speaker of the House demanded transparency.
One of the videos shows body-cam footage from officers who arrived at the Pelosi residence on October 28, 2022, when Paul Pelosi was attacked. The footage depicts the chaos of the moment when alleged assailant David DePape attacked. In the video, which includes graphic and violent content, both Paul Pelosi and DePape can be seen to have a hand on a hammer and DePape is holding Pelosi's arm when the officers opened the door. The officer can be heard saying, "Drop the hammer," to which DePape responds, "Uh, nope." DePape then grabs the hammer out of Pelosi's hand and lunges towards him while striking him in the head. The officers rushed into the home, subdued DePape and handcuffed him.
In addition to the body-cam footage, the files include audio from a police interview with DePape following his arrest, the 911 call Paul Pelosi made while DePape was in the home, and surveillance video showing DePape breaking into the home. Lawyers for DePape argued against the public release of the audio and footage, writing that it would "irreparably damage" his right to a fair trial. DePape has pleaded not guilty to a litany of state and federal crimes related to the attack, including assault and attempted murder.
Speaking briefly to reporters on Friday afternoon, Nancy Pelosi said she had "absolutely no intention of seeing the deadly assault on my husband's life." She added that Paul Pelosi is "making progress, but it will take more time" and that she would not be making additional public comments about the case.
The audio recording of a San Francisco police officer's interview with DePape following his October arrest reveals that DePape admitted to attacking Paul Pelosi and described his plans to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage when he broke into the couple's San Francisco home. "Yeah, I mean, I'm not trying to, like, get away with this, so, you know, I know exactly what I did," DePape said towards the beginning of the 17-minute audio clip. "Well, I was going to basically hold her hostage, and I was going to talk to her," DePape said of Nancy Pelosi. "If she told the truth, I'd let her go scot-free. If she f**king lied, I was going to break her kneecaps."
DePape embraced conspiracy theories about Democrats and Pelosi, complaining about a Democratic "crime spree" and baselessly claiming that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats had spied on former President Donald Trump's campaign. "They are the criminals," DePape said. The officer walked DePape through his break-in of the Pelosi house and his encounter with Paul Pelosi. When he was asked why he didn't leave after Paul Pelosi called the police, DePape compared himself to the Founding Fathers' fighting the British. "When I left my house, I left to go fight tyranny. I did not leave to go surrender," he said.
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