Man who attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband found guilty of kidnapping – and could face life in prison
A man who brutally attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer and was jailed for 30 years, has also been convicted of kidnapping and could spend the rest of his life in prison.
David DePape was sentenced last month by a federal judge to 30 years in federal prison after he was found guilty of the 2022 attack against Paul Pelosi – husband of the leading Democrat politician.
On Friday, a jury in San Francisco also found DePape guilty of first-degree burglary, false imprisonment of an elder, threatening a family member of a public official, dissuading a witness to the charges and aggravated kidnapping.
DePape was previously convicted of assaulting a federal official’s family member and attempting to kidnap a federal official.
The attack on Mr Pelosi was captured on police body camera video just days before the 2022 midterm elections and shocked US politics.
The then 82-year-old suffered two head wounds including a skull fracture that had to be mended with plates and screws.
Paul Pelosi. Pic: AP
David DePape. Pic: AP
Democratic former house speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pic: AP
In a statement, Mrs Pelosi’s office said: “Speaker Pelosi and her family remain in awe of their pop’s bravery, which shone through again on the witness stand in this trial just as it did when he saved his own life on the night of the attack.
“For nearly 20 gruelling months, Mr Pelosi has demonstrated extraordinary courage and fortitude every day of his recovery.”
DePape’s public defender, Adam Lipson, said he planned to appeal the verdict.
He described the prosecutor’s decision to file a kidnapping for ransom charge during the trial as “vindictive”.
Mr Lipson said: “It’s really unfortunate that it was charged this way. It was sort of a textbook vindictive prosecution.
“As soon as they found that the attempted murder charge was going to be dismissed, they added this charge.”
Mr Lipson had earlier successfully argued that the state trial represented double jeopardy following the federal conviction and even though the courts are different, the cases stem from the same act.
San Francisco superior court judge Harry Dorfman agreed and dismissed the state charges of attempted murder, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.
Another judge upheld the decision on appeal.
Mr Lipson said the state verdict meant that after DePape served his 30 years in federal prison, he would then be transferred to a Californian prison “to spend the rest of his life” there.
In his closing arguments, he told the jury that the prosecution did not prove that DePape kidnapped Mr Pelosi with intent “to exact from another person money or something valuable”, which is integral to the charge.
However, assistant district attorney Phoebe Maffei pointed out that DePape told a detective, and testified in federal court, that he planned to get a video of Mrs Pelosi confessing to what he claimed were crimes – and post it on the internet.
Ms Maffei said: “There is inherent value in a video of the speaker of the House [of Representatives] confessing to crimes in her own home,”.
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Earlier this week, Ms Maffei outlined details of the attack where DePape broke into the politician’s home, entered their bedroom, “held him hostage with a hammer, threatened him, threatened his wife and attempted to kill him.”
Also during proceedings the jury was told that DePape lived a lonely, isolated life and had gone “down the rabbit hole of propaganda and conspiracy theories”.
During the week, the judge also expelled DePape’s former partner from the public gallery, accusing her of trying to tamper with the jury.
Gypsy Taub was handing out pieces of paper outside the courtroom with the address of a conspiracy theory website on them.
Cards were also found in a women’s bathroom nearby with the website’s address scrawled on the wall.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
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Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
US
RFK Jr chosen as Donald Trump’s health secretary – as president-elect says he will do ‘unbelievable things’
Donald Trump has chosen vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr as his new health secretary and said he will do “unbelievable things”.
The news was announced by Donald Trump Jr on X, before the president-elect confirmed the appointment just moments later.
Former Democrat RFK Jr, the nephew of former president John F Kennedy, had been running as an independent presidential candidate but dropped out of the race and endorsed Mr Trump in August.
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From August: Kennedy family criticises RFK Jr after Trump endorsement
In return for Mr Kennedy’s support during the election, president-elect Trump pledged to give him a “big role” – and RFK Jr’s preference for the health position was widely reported.
Mr Trump spoke on Thursday night at a gala, hosted at his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida, which included tech billionaire Elon Musk and actor Sylvester Stallone.
Directly addressing RFK Jr, who was in the audience, Mr Trump said: “We want you to come up with things… and ideas… and what you’ve been talking about for a long time. I think you’re going to do some unbelievable things. Nobody’s going to be able to do it like you.”
The health and human services (HHS) department includes the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Medicare, Medicaid and the National Institutes of Health.
RFK Jr will “restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again,” the president-elect wrote on X.
Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy Jr in October during the presidential campaign. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump added: “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health.
“The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration.”
Mr Kennedy is a known vaccine sceptic who has repeated misinformation on multiple occasions, including the discredited theory that childhood immunisations cause autism.
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The RFK Jr-led health department will “play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country,” the president-elect added.
Earlier, his son Donald Trump Jr was the first to confirm the appointment, writing on X: “Robert F Kennedy Jr will be The Secretary of Health and Human Services! Promises Made Promises Kept.”
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RFK Jr’s position will need to be confirmed with a Senate vote – but even with the chamber under Republican control, his appointment may face opposition because of his views on health issues.
Before Mr Trump announced his choice, Mr Kennedy had already claimed the new president would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office. The addition of the compound has been cited as helping to improve dental health.
The department RKF Jr is hoping to oversee has more than 80,000 employees across the United States.
Donald Trump has picked fiery Florida congressman Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general – a man who was under investigation over sex trafficking just days ago.
Democrats have described the MAGA loyalist as “a gonzo agent of chaos” and his appointment a “red alert moment for our democracy”, while some Republican senators have also raised doubts about his suitability for the role.
It comes as Mr Trump won control of the House of Representatives, giving him full control of the government, and continues to fill out his top team.
Mr Gaetz, 42, has been under investigation by the House of Representatives’ ethics committee over allegations he was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.
But after he resigned from Congress on Wednesday following being named as Mr Trump’s pick for attorney general, that probe has ended – without the publication of any findings.
Despite the cloud over his character – Mr Gaetz denies all allegations – he has repeatedly shown his loyalty to the president-elect, attending his hush money trial in Manhattan and vociferously calling out prosecutors.
The MAGA firebrand in the past has spread the conspiracy theory that the January 6 riots were actually orchestrated by the left-leaning group Antifa.
If he’s going to lead the Department of Justice, the Florida politician needs to be confirmed by a Senate vote like other cabinet positions. That’s where it could get difficult for him.
The nomination is seen by some as a reward for his loyalty to Donald Trump. Pic: AP
What have Republicans said?
“I don’t think it’s a serious nomination for the attorney general,” Republican senator Lisa Murkowski said. “This one was not on my bingo card.”
Senator Susan Collins said she was “shocked” by the pick and said there would be “an awful lot of questions being asked in this case”.
Both Ms Murkowski and Ms Collins have been vocal Trump critics (the latter vowed to write fellow Republican Nikki Haley’s name on her ballot) and will be under the spotlight next year as their party retakes control of the Senate.
“I think it’s a little bit of a test,” said Republican senator Kevin Cramer.
He said he sees Mr Gaetz as a disruptive force in the House and has concerns about the “serious allegations” against him – but stopped short of saying he would not vote for him.
“It will take a lot of political capital to get him across,” he added.
Mr Gaetz will need to be confirmed by a Senate vote. Pic: AP
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“I’ve known Matt for a very long time, we’re friends,” said Florida senator Marco Rubio, who was nominated for secretary of state on Wednesday. “I think he would do a very good job for the president.”
Some Republican senators were reluctant to publicly criticise the incoming president’s pick to lead the justice department but did not endorse him either.
Senator John Cornyn, a member of the judiciary panel, said he did not know Mr Gaetz “other than his public persona”, and said he will not “prejudge any of these” nominations.
“I’ve got nothing for you,” said senator Katie Britt when asked by reporters. “We’ll see,” said senator Ron Johnson, when asked if he is voting for Mr Gaetz.
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What have Democrats said?
Unsurprisingly, Democrats in Congress have been less restrained with their reactions to Mr Gaetz’s nomination.
Veteran senator Chris Murphy declared the announcement to be “a red alert moment for our democracy”.
Representative Jim Himes meanwhile, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN the role of attorney general requires “care, prudency, a deep respect for the rule of law… Matt Gaetz is the opposite of all of those things, he is a gonzo agent of chaos”.
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Senator Richard Blumenthal, who sits on the Senate’s judiciary panel, said the nomination was the “first test of whether Republicans are willing to stand up to Donald Trump and go with conscience and conviction as opposed to just politics”.
New Mexico senator Martin Heinrich was even more blunt, posting on X: “People voted for cheaper eggs, not whatever the f@#€ this is.”
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