SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — On the second day of David DePape’s trial, prosecutors played audio recordings of a conversation DePape had with a police investigator in the hours after he fractured Paul Pelosi’s skull.
In the interview, DePape revealed details of a “rampage” that he said he intended to go on if he was successful in kidnapping Nancy Pelosi, a top Democratic lawmaker and former Speaker of the House.
In the hour-long recording, DePape told investigator Carla Hurley that he intended to kidnap Nancy Pelosi because she and Hilary Clinton were regularly on television smearing former President Donald Trump.
He said he wanted to use Nancy Pelosi as bait to lure other targets. Among them: feminist scholar Gayle Rubin, Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom and actor Tom Hanks.
“When I left my house, I left to go fight tyranny,” DePape told Hurley.
DePape said he was going to interrogate Nancy Pelosi and give her a chance to tell the truth about corruption in Washington, D.C.
“I was going to hold her hostage. If she fucking lied, I was going to break her kneecaps. I knew, beyond a doubt, that she would fucking lie,” DePape told Hurley.
DePape said he wanted Nancy Pelosi to be wheeled out onto the floor of Congress as a warning to corrupt politicians that there were consequences for what he called evil and corrupt behavior.
DePape said the Democratic Party went to great lengths in efforts to smear former President Donald Trump and covered up their own illegal acts while doing so.
“Record-breaking crime spree the Democratic Party has been on the last few years," he said. "It’s unacceptable."
Also in the interview, DePape told Hurley that Paul Pelosi was not his target and that he never intended to hurt him when he entered the home.
Hurley asked DePape if he took medications or had any mental health problems. “I am not of unwell mind,” DePape replied.
“I knew exactly what I was doing," he added, slowly emphasizing each word.
“That’s kind of scary, David,” Hurley replied.
Hurley asked DePape why he harmed Paul Pelosi when Paul was not a politician — just a politician's family member.
“What did he do, besides being married to her?” Hurley asked.
“I told him: If you’re going to stop me, you’ll get the punishment instead," DePape answered. "If there’s this great evil and you’re going to protect it, you get the punishment instead."
DePape’s admission of his actions and intentions could be a blow to his defense.
After all, DePape’s mental state at the time of the Oct. 2022 attack is a key part of the defense’s argument for why DePape should not be found guilty.
In opening statements Wednesday, public defender Adam Lipson revealed that DePape was diagnosed with a schizoid personality disorder, which can cause sufferers to experience delusions and fantastical thinking and become prone to rash, impulsive thinking.
By contrast, Hurley told prosecutors that DePape was lucid and calm during the interview.
After interviewing DePape, Hurley went to the Pelosi residence to look for evidence. There, she told jurors, she found DePape’s Bay Area transit card and zip ties that he intended to use in the kidnapping.
Earlier in the day, jurors heard testimony from two San Francisco police officers who responded to the scene the night of the attack.
They also heard from Dr. Michael Huang, a professor of neurological surgery who operated on Paul Pelosi afterwards.
DePape attended the early portions of the trial. He unexpectedly left the courtroom early on Thursday afternoon because he was suffering from cold-like symptoms.
Testimony continues Friday, with Hurley still on the stand. Paul Pelosi is expected to testify.
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