Paul Pelosi hammer attack suspect denies attempted kidnap and assault charges
A man accused of attacking US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer has pleaded not guilty to federal charges against him.
David DePape is accused of the attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault of an immediate family member of a federal official.
The charges arise from a break-in at Nancy and Paul Pelosi’s home in San Francisco on 28 October, just days before the midterm elections. Mr Pelosi, 82, was left needing surgery to treat a fractured skull.
DePape, 42, of Richmond, a San Francisco suburb, has separately pleaded not guilty to state charges of attempted murder, burglary and elder abuse.
The federal charges include assault upon an immediate family member of a US official with the intent to retaliate against the official on account of the performance of official duties.
That carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison.
Another charge alleges Mr DePape attempted to kidnap a US official “on account of the performance of official duties”. That indictment claims Mr DePape intended to kidnap Mrs Pelosi – and could result in a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Appearing in orange clothes without handcuffs, Mr DePape, a fringe activist drawn to conspiracy theories, was assigned a public defence lawyer who entered the plea on his behalf during the brief court appearance in San Francisco.
Investigators work outside the couple’s San Francisco home after the attack
Officers responding to Mr Pelosi’s 911 call found him and Mr DePape fighting over a hammer, the indictment alleges.
An officer ordered Mr DePape to drop the hammer, but he responded, “ummm nope”, before forcefully swinging it at Mr Pelosi, it says.
The sequence lasted about 15 seconds, it goes on, but left Mr Pelosi and Mr DePape lying on the floor with blood swelling around Mr Pelosi’s head.
When he called emergency services, Mr Pelosi told the dispatcher he was sleeping, when a man he had never seen before entered his bedroom looking for his wife, who was in Washington, DC at the time.
Officers later found a broken glass door to the back porch. They recovered zip ties, a roll of tape, white rope, a second hammer, and a pair of rubber and cloth gloves.
The attack on Mr Pelosi happened as threats against US politicians and election officials have been at all-time highs, and authorities have issued warnings about rising extremism.
Mr DePape is being held without bail in state custody.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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