Month: November 2023

A federal jury on Thursday convicted David DePape, the man who attacked Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with a hammer during a break-in last year at the couple’s San Francisco home. Paul Pelosi, 83, sustained a fractured skull in the Oct. 28, 2022, attack.

The unanimous verdicts were reached by the panel of 12, pulled from a pool of 15 jurors and alternate jurors that was comprised of 12 men and three women. They deliberated for seven hours over two days, about 4 1/2 hours on Wednesday and 2 1/2 hours on Thursday. DePape, 43, showed no emotion as the panel found him guilty of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official.

DePape surprisingly took the witness stand in his own defense Tuesday and rattled off a long list of baseless allegations and grievances — many of which regularly echo through far-right circles — that motivated him to break into Pelosi’s home in Pacific Heights, San Francisco.

U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey said he hopes the verdicts will serve as a statement against political violence: “What this guilty verdict on all counts sends is a clear message that regardless of what your beliefs are, what you cannot do is physically attack a member of Congress or their immediate family for their performance in their job.”

A Pelosi family statement read on Thursday: “The Pelosi family is very proud of their Pop, who demonstrated extraordinary composure and courage on the night of the attack a year ago. Thankfully, Mr. Pelosi continues to make progress in his recovery.”

DePape faces up to life in federal prison; he still faces state charges — attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary, false imprisonment and threatening the life or serious bodily harm to a public official. DePape is due back in federal court on Dec. 13, when the sides will set a date for sentencing.

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

On Thursday, Rep. George Santos said he will not be seeking reelection in 2024, this after the House Ethics Committee released a scathing report that concluded there is “substantial evidence” that Santos “violated federal criminal laws,” including using campaign funds for personal purposes and filing false campaign reports. The New York Republican said in a statement on X: “I will continue on my mission to serve my constituents up until I am allowed. I will however NOT be seeking re-election for a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time.”

The Ethics subcommittee said in its wide-ranging 56-page report, that Santos found “a complex web of unlawful activity involving Representative Santos’ campaign, personal, and business finances. Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit … He blatantly stole from his campaign. He deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit. He reported fictitious loans to his political committees to induce donors and party committees to make further contributions to his campaign—and then diverted more campaign money to himself as purported ‘repayments’ of those fictitious loans.”  The report continued that Santos “used his connections to high-value donors and other political campaigns” to enrich himself, “and he sustained all of this through a constant series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff about his background and experience.” The Ethics panel also detailed various suspicious campaign expenditures, which included spending at Hermes, Ferragamo stores, an Airbnb while Santos was on a Hamptons weekend getaway, Botox treatments and OnlyFans, a subscription-based website.

The DOJ has already charged Santos on multiple federal counts, including identity theft, money laundering and theft of public funds. He is set to go on trial in September and has pleaded not guilty. Santos, 35, said on X: “I will remain steadfast in fighting for my rights and for defending my name in the face of adversity. I am humbled yet again and reminded that I am human and I have flaws, but I will not stand by as I am stoned by those who have flaws themselves.

Editorial credit: Philip Yabut / Shutterstock.com