The man charged with attacking the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also had plans to target Hunter Biden, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and actor Tom Hanks, according to a police officer who interviewed the alleged assailant.
San Francisco Police Lt. Carla Hurley testified in court Wednesday that David DePape revealed the target list to her during an hourlong interview at a hospital shortly after the attack on Paul Pelosi in October.
An earlier court filing said DePape had named several “prominent” state and federal politicians, their relatives and a local professor as other targets; it did not identify any of them.
Prosecutors played 17 minutes of Hurley's interview Wednesday as part of a preliminary hearing to determine whether there was enough evidence to hold a trial on the six counts against DePape, who has been charged in connection with breaking into the Pelosis' San Francisco home and brutally attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer.
Part of Hurley's interview included DePape’s saying that he told Paul Pelosi, “I have other targets.”
While Nancy Pelosi was in Washington, D.C., during the attack, DePape questioned Paul Pelosi about her whereabouts, asking, “Where’s Nancy?” and vowing to break "her kneecaps," according to an earlier court filing.
The judge determined Wednesday that there was enough evidence to proceed to a trial.
DePape was indicted on federal charges of attempted kidnapping and assault. He also faces a series of state charges, including attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment of an elder and threats to a public official and their family. DePape has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Hurley said Wednesday that DePape also talked about conspiracy theories that fueled the attack.
Newsom, a Democrat, has been governor of California since 2019. Biden has been a political target on the right in recent years, particularly after the New York Post alleged in October 2020 that it had a “smoking-gun email” between the president's son and a Ukrainian businessman.
Hanks, meanwhile, has lent his star power to support Joe Biden, appearing alongside him at a grassroots fundraiser in 2020. In January, Hanks narrated a video released by the Biden Inaugural Committee highlighting the president’s accomplishments in his first year in office.
DePape will be arraigned Dec. 28 on the state charges.
