Nancy Pelosi asks for “very lengthy” sentence for David DePape, who attacked husband Paul Pelosi with hammer

Former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi is asking the courtroom for a “very lengthy” sentence for the person who attacked her husband of their dwelling over a yr in the past, and Paul Pelosi says he is nonetheless struggling dizziness, complications, steadiness issues, nerve ache and strolling challenges after being struck by David DePape with a hammer.

Paul Pelosi revealed his ongoing well being issues in a letter to a federal decide Friday earlier than the sentencing of DePape, who was convicted final November of attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer in October 2022.

“I stroll slowly and have issue with my steadiness. Almost each day I get complications that change into migraines except shortly addressed,” Paul Pelosi wrote. “I must sleep in the course of the day and can’t tolerate brilliant lights or loud noises for prolonged intervals of time.” 

“For months, sleeping alone in my dwelling was very tough as a result of I saved remembering the defendant breaking into my home,” Paul Pelosi mentioned, persevering with, “The defendant severely broken the nerves in my left hand. My forehand was ‘de-gloved’ exposing uncooked nerves and blood vessels. Surgical procedures and coverings principally healed the pores and skin, however beneath I nonetheless really feel pinched nerves in my left hand. This makes primary duties like utilizing buttons, cutlery and easy instruments tougher.”

The previous Home speaker, in her personal letter to the courtroom, requested a “very lengthy” sentence for DePape. She mentioned the assault “[f]illed me with nice concern and deep ache.”

“A violent man broke into our dwelling, threatened to kidnap me and – in his personal phrases – made my husband Paul ‘take the punishment’ in my absence with a near-fatal assault with a hammer,” the longtime California congresswoman wrote.

She additionally mentioned that she and her husband have by no means talked in regards to the assault.

“Paul and I’ve not mentioned the occasions of that horrible evening,” Nancy Pelosi wrote. “Paul does not wish to endure revisiting it, and the docs’ recommendation is that discussing the vicious assault would solely renew his trauma.”  

In a separate letter to the courtroom, her chief of employees, Terri McCullough, referenced anxiousness within the speaker’s workplace that arose within the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol assault, when rioters chanted, “The place’s Nancy?” 

“We couldn’t think about something worse may occur in our world,” McCullough wrote. “But I did, due to this defendant’s actions. ‘The place’s Nancy?’ he requested. After the brutal assault of Mr. Pelosi in October 2022, we knew the Speaker and her household weren’t secure in their very own houses.”

The Justice Division is in search of a jail time period of 40 years for DePape. DePape, 44, was tried late final yr for tried kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the speedy member of the family of a federal official. Jurors convicted him on each counts.

DePape’s early morning break-in on the Pelosi dwelling resulted in federal in addition to state prices.  A second trial in state courtroom will begin within the coming weeks.

Throughout tearful testimony in his federal trial, DePape admitted that he broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco dwelling intending to carry the speaker hostage and “break her kneecaps” if she lied to him. He additionally acknowledged bludgeoning Paul Pelosi with a hammer after police confirmed up, saying his plan to finish what he seen as authorities corruption was unraveling.

The assault on Paul Pelosi, who was 82 on the time, was captured on police physique digicam video days earlier than the midterm elections and despatched shockwaves by the political world.

Protection attorneys argued DePape was motivated by his political opinions, not by a want to intrude with the speaker’s official duties as a member of Congress, which might make the fees towards him invalid.