Paul Pelosi testifies about brutal home attack: ‘I tried to stay as calm as possible’

Paul Pelosi, the husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), spoke publicly Monday for the first time about the night he was attacked in his San Francisco home.

“It was a tremendous sense of shock to recognize that somebody had broken into the house, and looking at him and looking at the hammer and the ties, I recognized that I was in serious danger, so I tried to stay as calm as possible,” Paul Pelosi said during his testimony in his attacker’s trial, according to The Associated Press.

David DePape, the man shown on video attacking Pelosi with a hammer, pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official with intent to retaliate against the official over how they perform their duties.

DePape attacked Pelosi with a hammer in the early morning of Oct. 28, 2022, and had a rope and zip ties with him, prosecutors said. The defense argued that while DePape attacked Pelosi, he believed “with every ounce of his being” that his actions would stop government corruption.

During Pelosi’s testimony, he said he had not shared what happened the night of the attack “because it’s been too traumatic.” Noting he did not have the home alarm system on, he said he was awakened by a man coming into the bedroom asking, “Where’s Nancy?” according to the AP.

When Paul Pelosi told the man his wife was in Washington, D.C., he said the man told him he would tie him up while they waited for her to return. Pelosi recounted that DePape at one point let him enter the bathroom, where he used his cellphone to call 911.

When police arrived, Pelosi said DePape hit him with the hammer. He then recounted how he woke up in a pool of his blood. 

FBI Special Agent Stephanie Minor, who led the investigation, said during her testimony that surveillance video showed DePape hitting Pelosi at least three times. Pelosi needed to undergo surgery to treat a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands as a result of the attack.

DePape faces a life in prison if convicted. He also faces separate charges in state court, where he pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary and other felonies.

The Associated Press contributed.