DePape is charged federally with influencing, impeding or retaliating against a federal official by threatening or injuring a family member. He also faces one count of attempted kidnapping of a United States official on account of the performance of official duties.
The announcement of the federal charges comes as San Francisco's district attorney is set to also announce state criminal charges against DePape, whom police say shouted out, “Where is Nancy?,” before the attack. He was arrested Friday on suspicion of attempted murder, elder abuse and burglary and is expected to be arraigned on state charges later today.
In a recorded interview with San Francisco Police Department officers, DePape laid out his plan for the House speaker, according to federal charging documents, which read:
"DEPAPE stated that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her. If Nancy were to tell DEPAPE the 'truth,' he would let her go, and if she 'lied,' he was going to break 'her kneecaps.' DEPAPE was certain that Nancy would not have told the 'truth.' In the course of the interview, DEPAPE articulated he viewed Nancy as the 'leader of the pack' of lies told by the Democratic Party. DEPAPE also later explained that by breaking Nancy’s kneecaps, she would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other Members of Congress there were consequences to actions. DEPAPE also explained generally that he wanted to use Nancy to lure another individual to DEPAPE."
Over the weekend Elon Musk tweeted, then deleted, a fringe website’s far-flung conspiracy theories about the attack, as his purchase of Twitter raised concerns that the social media platform would no longer seek to limit misinformation and hate speech.
San Francisco's district attorney, Brooke Jenkins, rejected multiple conspiracy theories.
“At the time that the suspect had entered the Pelosi home, he was, in fact, looking for Ms. Pelosi,” Jenkins told reporters late Sunday in San Francisco.
“The other thing is we want to make it clear that there were only two people in the home at the time that the police arrived, Mr. Pelosi and the suspect. There was no third person present,” she said.
“We have nothing to suggest that these two men knew each other prior to this incident.”
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott also has said the attack was targeted.
The district attorney’s remarks come as the gruesome attack is being mocked and dismissed on conservative, far-right social media, even among some Republicans leaders and those at the highest levels of social power. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., was among those making light of the incident, tweeting out a joke about a Halloween costume.
Paul Pelosi remains hospitalized at San Francisco General Hospital after undergoing surgery for a fractured skull and other injuries. Speaker Pelosi, who was in Washington, D.C., at the time of the attack, returned swiftly to California. Unlike presidents, congressional leaders have security protection for themselves, but not their families.
The attack was an unsettling echo of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, when rioters trying to overturn Joe Biden’s election defeat of Donald Trump stormed the halls calling, “Where’s Nancy?”
Police were dispatched to the Pelosis' home in the upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood around 2:20 a.m. Friday after Paul Pelosi placed a 911 call. Jenkins said DePape broke into the rear door and made his way upstairs to confront Paul Pelosi. He was carrying zip ties, two people briefed on the matter told The Associated Press; those people could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Police said they arrived to see the two men struggling over a hammer, when DePape struck Pelosi at least once before being tackled by officers.
The incident sparked fresh security concerns for lawmakers and other elected officials before the midterms.
With nearly 10,000 threats against members of Congress in the last year, U.S. Capitol Police have advised lawmakers to take precautions. Chief Tom Manger, who leads the U.S. Capitol Police, has said the threat from lone-wolf attackers has been growing and the most significant threat the force is facing is the historically high number of threats against lawmakers, thousands more than just a few years before.
The attack on the speaker’s husband follows other attacks and threats. This summer, a man carrying a gun, a knife and zip ties was arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house in Maryland after threatening to kill him. In 2017, Republican Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) was seriously injured when a Bernie Sanders supporter opened fire on Republicans at a congressional baseball game practice.
Lisa Mascaro reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo and KQED's Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez contributed to this report.
