Paul Pelosi Leaves San Francisco Hospital After Assault

Six days after Paul Pelosi, spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi’s husband, suffered a fractured skull in a vicious attack, he was released from Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

Mr Pelosi, 82, is resting at home recovering from injuries to his head, arm and hand. He spent most of his time in the hospital in intensive care, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“The Pelosi family is grateful for the wonderful outpouring of love, support and prayers from around the world,” Ms. Pelosi said in a statement. “Paul is grateful to the 911 dispatcher, EMTs, trauma care team, ICU staff and all medical staff at ZSFGH for the excellent and compassionate life-saving treatment he received after the violent attack at our home.”

She added that her husband “remains under medical care as he continues his long process of recovery and convalescence. He is home now surrounded by his family, who are asking for privacy.”

A 42-year-old man, David DePape, has been charged by federal prosecutors with attempting to kidnap Ms. Pelosi and assaulting a relative of a federal agent after he broke into the couple’s San Francisco home on Oct. 28. He also pleaded not guilty to multiple state crime charges Tuesday.

Mr DePape, who has subscribed to far-right conspiracy theories, beat Mr Pelosi with a hammer in front of police, according to prosecutors, telling investigators he wanted to break Ms Pelosi’s kneecaps if she “lied” and saw her as a lesson for other lawmakers ” rolled into Congress”.

His early-morning break-in into the Pelosis’ home in the upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood was described in a filing filed by local prosecutors this week as they argued that Mr. DePape should be detained without bail. On Friday, prosecutors and Mr. DePape’s defense team will appear before a San Francisco judge who will set a date for his preliminary hearing and a bail hearing.

Mr DePape, who brought zip ties and two hammers, smashed down a glass door at the back of the home and confronted Mr Pelosi, who had been sleeping in his bedroom, according to two filings released by state and federal prosecutors this week. The suspect requested to see Ms. Pelosi, who was in Washington at the time, according to authorities.

After some discussion, Mr. DePape allowed Mr. Pelosi to use the bathroom where Mr. Pelosi called 911 and attempted to secretly signal the dispatcher that he was in trouble while Mr. DePape listened to the call, prosecutors said. When police officers got to the house, they saw the two men who had gone downstairs fighting for control of one of the hammers.

Mr. DePape pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and hit him in the head with it before being attacked and restrained by officers. “Mr. Pelosi was unresponsive for about three minutes and awoke in a pool of his own blood,” according to the local attorney general’s filing.

Mr. DePape later told officers he was there on a “suicide mission” looking for Ms. Pelosi, and that he had other targets as well: a local professor and several state and federal politicians and their families.

“I’m sick of how many lies are coming out of Washington, DC,” Mr. DePape told officials, according to authorities.

Mr. DePape was raised in British Columbia, Canada and moved to California approximately two decades ago. Mr. DePape lived for years in Berkeley, California, where he was intermittently homeless before moving into a garage in nearby Richmond about two years ago.

Mr. DePape was easygoing, calm, and a hard worker, according to Frank Ciccarelli, a carpenter who has employed him for the past six years. But he also began to subscribe to political conspiracy theories and believed the 2020 election was stolen, Mr Ciccarelli said.

A few years ago, Mr. Ciccarelli tried to help Mr. DePape by taking him off the street and into his friend’s garage. But Mr. Ciccarelli believed this gave Mr. DePape greater access to the internet and allowed him to become more isolated and trapped in his darkest thoughts.

Mr. DePape appeared to have written a blog full of tirades about the 2020 election, anti-Semitic beliefs, and QAnon conspiracy theories. “He went down the rabbit hole,” said Mr. Ciccarelli.

On Tuesday, Adam Lipson, Mr DePape’s public defender, signaled that his client’s “vulnerability” to political misinformation and propaganda could be a possible strategy for his legal defense.

“We’ll definitely look into that,” said Mr. Lipson.

Holly Secon contributed coverage.