Paul Pelosi attacker David DePape hit with federal criminal charges

The Justice Department filed two federal criminal charges Monday against David DePape, who is accused of viciously attacking Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in the couple’s San Francisco home.

DePape, 42, was charged with attempted kidnapping, and with retaliating against a federal official by threatening or injuring a family member.

The Richmond, California, resident was arrested by San Francisco Police on Friday after he was found at struggling with the 82-year-old Paul Pelosi over a hammer. When officers ordered the men to drop the hammer, DePape gained control of it, and hit Pelosi in the head, knocking him out, authorities said.

Pelosi remained in the intensive care unit at a San Francisco hospital, surrounded by family members, on Monday morning, sources told NBC.

Law enforcement officials including FBI agents on Sunday obtained Pelosi’s account of the home invasion, a source with knowledge of the investigation told NBC.

Pelosi had all of his cognitive functions and seemed to recall everything about the incident, the source said. 

Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who as House speaker is second in the line of presidential succession, was in Washington, D.C., at the time of the attack.

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