Attack on Paul Pelosi: Recording played in court, David DePape explains what led to the 2022 attack on Pelosi’s home

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A dramatic October 2022 recording of David DePape explaining why he broke into then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home was played in a San Francisco courtroom Thursday afternoon.

In Branch 19 of San Francisco Superior Court, DePape, 44, watched as prosecutors built the case against him piece by piece. They played a 59-minute interview with the defendant recorded after he was caught on police bodycam video hitting Paul Pelosi with a gavel.

Two hours later, DePape was at San Francisco General Hospital for a dislocated shoulder sustained during his arrest. A police detective interviewed him as he lay handcuffed to a gurney.

It begins with the question: “Do you know why you are in prison?”

DePape replies, “Absolutely.” He becomes increasingly angry and emotional, claiming that Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats committed crimes to steal the election from Donald Trump. Then Depape says, “I was going to take her hostage and make her tell the truth. If she didn’t tell the truth, I was going to break her kneecaps.”

Adam Gasner, a longtime San Francisco-based criminal defense attorney who has followed DePape’s trial, told us, “It’s unclear whether he’ll testify, but when you hear his voice and his babbling or his rants, the shaking, his voice, the oddity of his speech, you get a real insight into the personality of his former self.”

TIMELINE: Latest updates after the attack on Paul Pelosi in a San Francisco home

Also Thursday, the neurosurgeon who operated on Paul Pelosi showed a dramatic CAT scan that showed a dent in his head the size of a silver dollar. He described having to drill around the break, lift it up and use screws to reattach it. Another police officer who accompanied Pelosi to the hospital in the ambulance showed photos she took. His face was covered in blood and his hands were clasped on his bare chest.

“I think it’s really meaningful because it shows compassion and shows Paul Pelosi as a human being who was really badly hurt in his own home,” Gasner said. “It’s very emotive. The jury can’t miss that.”

The jury also saw new bodycam video taken by a police officer who searched the home shortly after the attack and came across the bags DePape had left in the Pelosi yard. The officer began searching the bags and then stopped. He feared explosives, so he cleared the home and called an explosives-sniffing dog. No explosives were found.

All of this sets the stage for Paul Pelosi’s testimony, which we expect Friday and which ABC7 will of course cover. Late Thursday, Depape’s lawyers said he was not feeling well. And the judge ruled that the trial would be adjourned for a few days in case the defendant is sick with COVID-19.