Man accused of hammer attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband named Tom Hanks as target, court hears
A man accused of attacking the husband of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there was “evil in Washington” and named other targets including actor Tom Hanks, a court has heard.
David DePape is accused of breaking into the Pelosis’ San Francisco home on 28 October in a bid to kidnap the speaker – who was not there.
He instead beat her 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer – with the violent attack sending shockwaves through the political world.
Nancy and Paul Pelosi pictured in 2018
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stephen Murphy ruled that prosecutors had shown enough evidence during a preliminary hearing on Wednesday to move forward with a trial on the state charges, including attempted murder.
Lt Carla Hurley, who interviewed DePape for an hour the day of the attack, testified that the defendant told her of other people he wanted to target, including Oscar-winner Hanks, California Governor Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.
The officer did not say whether police had any evidence of a plot against them.
Fellow police officer Kyle Cagney said he saw both DePape and Mr Pelosi holding the hammer when the door opened.
He told the court that DePape did not follow the officers’ commands to drop the weapon and instead lunged at Mr Pelosi, swinging the hammer at him.
Mr Pelosi was knocked unconscious before waking up in a pool of his own blood.
He later underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands.
Lt Hurley said DePape told her that he had been looking for Mrs Pelosi, and told her husband that he was not part of the plan.
Paul Pelosi was attacked at his San Francisco home in October
She added DePape still told Mr Pelosi: “I can take you out, I can take you out.”
Lt Hurley said DePape told her that after he spotted the lights of a police car, he told Mr Pelosi: “I’m not going to surrender, I am here to fight. If you stop me from going after people, you will take the punishment instead.”
Prosecutors showed the hammer that was allegedly used in the attack in court during Wednesday’s proceedings, which were attended by Christine Pelosi, one of the Pelosis’ five adult children.
The district attorney’s office played audio of Mr Pelosi’s 911 call to San Francisco police to the courtroom.
They also showed under a minute of video footage from body cameras that captured the attack. The 911 dispatcher has been widely credited with sending two officers to the couple’s home despite limited information.
DePape, wearing an orange jumpsuit for the hearing on Wednesday, has pleaded not guilty to federal and state charges, including attempted murder, burglary and elder abuse.
He remains in custody without bail. He is due back in court on 28 December.
Mrs Pelosi was in Washington at the time of her husband’s attack and under the protection of her security detail, which does not extend to family members.
Last month, she said she would not run again to be Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, after nearly two decades in the role.
US
California: 21 children taken into custody – amid claims couple misled surrogate mothers across the US
Police have taken 21 children into custody, amid allegations that a couple in Los Angeles may have misled surrogate mothers across the US.
Silvia Zhang, 38, and Guojun Xuan, 65, are believed to be the legal parents of the children, who are aged between two months and 13 years old.
“We believe one or two were born biologically to the mother,” Lieutenant Kollin Cieadlo said. “There are some surrogates who have come forward and said they were surrogates for the children.”
“The couple told police that they wanted a large family,” he added.
The home of Silva Zhang and Guojun Xuan, northeast of downtown Los Angeles
Fifteen children were removed from the couple’s home in Arcadia, about 13 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, after an abuse allegation was made. Another six living in the care of family and friends were also located.
The couple were arrested in May after a hospital reported that their two-month-old infant had a traumatic head injury – with a nanny accused of violently shaking the baby.
The infant was not taken to hospital until two days later, after they began suffering seizures.
CCTV footage recorded inside the home showed the children being emotionally and physically abused by at least six nannies.
The couple’s property had CCTV cameras, which police said recorded footage of abuse by nannies. Pic: AP
Lt Cieadlo said Zhang had produced what appeared to be legitimate birth certificates, including some from outside California, that list her as the mother of the children.
Business records show a company called Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC was previously registered at the couple’s address, although the most recent documents show the business licence ended in June.
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Police said they are investigating whether the children found at the home in the San Gabriel Valley were part of a surrogacy scam.
Lt Cieadlo also confirmed officers were working with the FBI as part of their investigation.
Kayla Elliott, one of the surrogate mothers who has come forward, told Sky’s US partner NBC News: “I was a bit hysterical. You just don’t expect that you’re going to go through a pregnancy and a delivery and then hand the baby over to their parents and then all of a sudden find out that there was abuse and neglect going on.”
Arrest warrants were issued for Zhang, Xuan and the 56-year-old nanny, who was not in custody on Wednesday. Zhang and Xuan were detained on suspicion of child endangerment/neglect.
The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, which removed the couple’s children, declined to comment on the case.
Disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell could use “government misconduct” to challenge her imprisonment, her family has claimed.
The 63-year-old, who was jailed in 2022 for luring young girls to massage rooms for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Maxwell’s family have frequently claimed she “did not receive a fair trial”, but legal appeals against her sex trafficking convictions have been rejected by the courts.
The latest challenge from the Maxwell family comes as President Donald Trump faces questions over whether or not he will order the release of the so-called Epstein “client list”, following a backlash from Republican loyalists who have called for any list to be made public.
Ghislaine Maxwell. Pic: US Department of Justice
Judges previously dismissed arguments from Maxwell’s lawyers that she “should never have been prosecuted” because of a “weird” agreement drafted more than 15 years ago.
The family argue that Maxwell should have been protected under an agreement Epstein had entered with the US Department of Justice in 2007, which agreed not to prosecute any of his co-conspirators.
During her trial in 2021, Maxwell was described as “dangerous” by prosecutors, who told jurors about how she would entice vulnerable girls to go to Epstein’s properties for him to sexually abuse.
In a statement, her family said: “Our sister Ghislaine did not receive a fair trial.
“Her legal team continues to fight her case in the courts and will file its reply in short order to the government’s opposition in the US Supreme Court.”
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David Oscar Markus, one of her lawyers, said in the statement released by her family: “I’d be surprised if President Trump knew his lawyers were asking the Supreme Court to let the government break a deal.
“He’s the ultimate dealmaker and I’m sure he’d agree that when the United States gives its word, it should keep it.
“With all the talk about who’s being prosecuted and who isn’t, it’s especially unfair that Ghislaine Maxwell remains in prison based on a promise the US government made and broke.’
“These are sentiments with which we profoundly concur.”
Epstein, 66, was found dead in his cell at a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
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