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The man accused of brutally attacking former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer apologized in court Tuesday, while describing conspiracy theories about why he went to the couple’s San Francisco home to end what he viewed as government corruption.
In remarks that lasted more than an hour, a tearful David DePape explained how he switched from the political left to right after reading a comment on a YouTube video about former President Donald Trump.
“When he was on the ground breathing, I was really scared for his life,” DePape said in federal court in San Francisco FOX San Francisco reported. “And later in the hospital, I felt really bad for him because we had a really good rapport and things were going good until the last second.”
Prosecutors allege DePape broke into the Pelosi home on the evening hours of Oct. 28, 2022, in an attempt to find Nancy Pelosi. On Monday, Paul Pelosi testified that DePape repeatedly asked where his wife was.
“The door opened and a very large man came in with a hammer in one hand and some ties in the other and he said, ‘Where’s Nancy?’ and I think that woke me up,” Pelosi said. “I’m asleep, and he bursts in the door and that woke me up.”
“It was a tremendous shock to recognize that somebody had broken into the house and looking at him and looking at the hammer and the ties, I recognized that I was in serious danger, so I tried to stay as calm as possible,” he said.
DePape said he went to the Pelosis’ home to talk to Nancy Pelosi about Russian involvement in the 2016 election, and that he planned to wear an inflatable unicorn costume and upload his interrogation of her online.
Paul Pelosi called the police during the home intrusion but DePape struck him with a hammer when officers arrived.
DePape, 43, said he felt bad for Pelosi after hearing testimony from a neurosurgeon who operated on him after the attack and testified Pelosi had two wounds on his head, including a fracture to his skull that had to be mended with plates and screws. Pelosi also needed stitches on injuries to his right arm and hand.
PAUL PELOSI TESTIFIES IN TRIAL OF MAN ACCUSED OF BRUTALLY ATTACKING HIM WITH HAMMER INSIDE HOME
“He was never my target and I’m sorry that he got hurt,” DePape said. “I reacted because my plan was basically ruined,” he said when asked why he hit Pelosi.
DePape testified he first was drawn to conspiracies after learning about “Gamergate,” an online harassment campaign against women in the video gaming community that took place about a decade ago. He said he often played video games for up to six hours a day while listening to political podcasts.
He said he believed news outlets repeatedly lied about former Trump, specifically mentioning CNN. DePape echoed the baseless rants, including a QAnon conspiracy theory that claims the U.S. government is run by a cabal of devil-worshipping pedophiles, but he did not mention that Tuesday.
He said his other targets included a women’s and queer studies professor at the University of Michigan, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, actor Tom Hanks and President Joe Biden’s son Hunter. He told jurors that he heard about the professor while listening to conservative commentator James Lindsay.
“The takeaway I got is that she wants to turn our schools into pedophile molestation factories,” said DePape, a Canadian citizen who moved to the U.S. more than 20 years ago.
The unidentified professor testified that some of her writings have been misconstrued to fit a narrative against the gay movement. U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ordered her name not be put in the public record because of threats against her.
Asked by DePape’s defense attorney if she supported the abuse of children, the professor responded, “Absolutely not.”
She said that after Paul Pelosi was attacked, the FBI informed her that she was DePape’s main target. She said that she told university administrators and that they have taken measures to protect her, her students, and other staff.
Other witnesses included Daniel Bernal, Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco chief of staff, and DePape neighbor Elizabeth Yates, who said she allowed him to shower at her home once a week.
Closing arguments are expected on Wednesday. DePape faces life in prison if convicted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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A federal appeals court panel ruled in favor of energy industry groups in an order Tuesday evening requiring the Biden administration to hold a massive offshore oil and gas lease sale without eco restrictions.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the decision that the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) must move forward with Lease Sale 261, a large Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale mandated under the Inflation Reduction Act. The sale was originally scheduled for September, but was postponed after BOEM implemented last-minute environmental restrictions.
“Energy independence scored an important win tonight with the Fifth Circuit decision lifting unjustified restrictions on oil and natural gas vessels and restoring acreage for offshore energy development,” American Petroleum Institute (API) Senior Vice President and General Counsel Ryan Meyers said in a statement.
“The U.S. Gulf of Mexico plays a critical role in maintaining affordable, reliable American energy production, and today’s decision creates greater certainty for the essential energy workforce and the entire Gulf Coast economy,” he continued.
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The ruling Tuesday upholds a lower court decision which struck down the federal government’s late modification of Lease Sale 261. BOEM added environmental restrictions to the sale and blocked off millions of acres previously scheduled to be leased during the sale in August, one month after the government entered into a federal stipulated stay agreement with environmental advocacy organizations.
The July settlement with environmental groups came after years of litigation and specifically expands protections for the Rice’s whale, a species listed as endangered. However, the appeals court ultimately ruled that delaying Lease Sale 261 wouldn’t protect the species which has rarely been located near the leases offered in the sale.
BIDEN ADMIN UNVEILS SWEEPING NEW ACTIONS INCREASING COSTS FOR OIL, GAS LEASING
“At least one whale would need to traverse the area in which oil-and-gas activities are occurring under Lease Sale 261 and be killed by such activities,” the appeals panel decision states. “But in four separate environmental reviews over the last seven years, BOEM concluded that additional protections for the Rice’s whales are unnecessary outside of their ‘core’ habitat in the eastern Gulf — an area unrelated to Lease Sale 261 that has long been protected from oil-and-gas leasing.”
“At least one member of an Intervenor organization would need to go sight-seeing in the Rice’s whale’s habitat with intent to see the Rice’s whale after its population is diminished — events the dates of which remain unknown,” it continues.
After BOEM issued its Lease Sale 261 restrictions in August, API, which is the nation’s largest fossil fuel industry group, alongside the State of Louisiana and U.S. oil company Chevron, sued BOEM after the agency issued its Lease Sale 261 notice of sale, which made six million fewer acres available to oil and gas extraction than previously scheduled, as part of a settlement with eco groups.
The agency also created multiple vessel restrictions for companies that obtain leases.
Then, on Sept. 21, Judge James Cain of the Western District of Louisiana granted a preliminary injunction to plaintiffs and ordered the Biden administration to proceed with Lease Sale 261 without restrictions. After the government appealed, the appeals court allowed BOEM to delay the sale until Nov. 8.
And late last month, the appeals panel issued a stay on the lower court’s preliminary injunction. As a result, BOEM announced on Nov. 2 that it would indefinitely postpone the sale, a move criticized by bipartisan lawmakers including Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
Under the appeals court ruling Tuesday, BOEM is required to hold the sale within 37 days.
“The court’s ruling is a necessary and positive response to an unwarranted decision by the Biden administration,” said Erik Milito, the president of the National Ocean Industries Association. “The removal of millions of highly prospective acres, along with the imposition of excessive restrictions, resulted from a voluntary agreement with activist groups that sidestepped legal processes, disregarded scientific considerations, and neglected public input.”
“The escalating geopolitical tensions and instability in various oil-producing regions emphasize the critical role of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico,” he continued. “To fortify our national security stance, it is essential to champion strength and support U.S. oil and gas production.”
Milito added that the ruling Tuesday stands in contrast to federal policies like easing oil sanctions on Venezuela and Iran which are actions, he argued, “that could contribute to heightened global unrest.”
“Fully leveraging America’s energy production capabilities, especially our offshore resources, is imperative to address some of our nation’s most pressing challenges,” he said.
BOEM didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley was ripped by critics Tuesday after she vowed to require all social media users be verified in the name of “national security.”
“When I get into office, the first thing we have to do, social media accounts, social media companies, they have to show America their algorithms. Let us see why they’re pushing what they’re pushing. The second thing is every person on social media should be verified by their name,” Haley said during an appearance on Fox News earlier in the day.
“First of all, it’s a national security threat. When you do that, all of a sudden people have to stand by what they say. And it gets rid of the Russian bots, the Iranian bots and the Chinese bots. And then you’re going to get some civility when people know their name is next to what they say, and they know their pastor and their family members are going to see it,” she added.
Social media users quickly jumped on Haley, blasting her comments as “blatantly unconstitutional,” and “completely unhinged.” Those critics included her Republican primary opponents Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
“You know who were anonymous writers back in the day? Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison when they wrote the Federalist Papers. They were not ‘national security threats,’ nor are the many conservative Americans across the country who exercise their Constitutional right to voice their opinions without fear of being harassed or canceled by the school they go to or the company they work for,” DeSantis wrote.
He went on to call her proposal “dangerous,” and said it would be “dead on arrival” in a DeSantis administration.
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Ramaswamy also referenced the Federalist Papers, and called her comments “disgusting.”
“Here’s what they would say to [Nkki Haley] if they were alive: get your heels off my neck & go back to England,” he wrote, referencing a slight about her high heels she directed at him during the third Republican presidential debate last week.
“Nice try, Nikki. Anonymous speech is a core part of free speech — which the founders would know, since many of them (including Alexander Hamilton and James Madison) wrote anonymously,” conservative activist Charlie Kirk wrote.
Digital strategist Greg Price joked Haley had “decided that enough was enough” after being “ratioed” over an X post about her high heels serving as “ammunition.”
“Is Nikki Haley aware that the Federalist Papers were written by founding fathers using pseudonyms? Nikki Haley may be one of the most war-mongering and authoritarian candidates for president in some time. She’s completely unhinged. This is blatantly unconstitutional,” journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote.
Dan Caldwell, the vice president of the Center for Renewing America, also referenced the Federalist Papers, and added that “the ability to engage in anonymous speech has been a central pillar of the American conception of free speech since our founding.”
Other users accused Haley of wanting “to eliminate free speech,” called her comments “horribly authoritarian,” and warned that her idea would lead to conservatives being fired from their jobs for expressing their opinions.
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A number of staffers and supporters of DeSantis also took the opportunity to target Haley.
“I am no lawyer but isn’t this blatantly unconstitutional? Free speech includes anonymous speech,” DeSantis Rapid Response Director Christina Pushaw wrote while Noah Jennings, the Iowa political director of pro-DeSantis superPAC Never Back Down, suggested Haley might “expand the Patriot Act to police thought crime.”
Haley’s campaign responded to the criticism in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying, “We all know that America’s enemies use anonymous bots to spread anti-American lies and sow chaos and division within our borders. Nikki believes social media companies need to do a better job of verifying users so we can crack down on Chinese, Iranian, and Russian bots. That’s common sense.”
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North Andover, Massachusetts, officials approved a permit Monday, allowing a Palestinian flag to be flown on the North Andover Town Common, according to reports.
Boston 25 News reported that the black, white, red and green flag was raised Tuesday morning and will fly in place until Dec. 7.
Residents attended a board meeting that had to be rescheduled because of reported “threats of litigation as well as public safety concerns,” both in favor and opposition of the flag being put on display on town property.
One resident, Salma Boulal, attended the meeting and said if Israel gets to fly its flag in the North Andover common, Palestinians deserve the same right, the news station reported.
To ensure order was upheld, police were present at the meeting in large numbers.
Town Manager Melissa Rodrigues reportedly said an application to fly the flag was submitted to the town Oct. 16, about six hours before town officials updated its policy on flying flags.
Prior to the change, the policy allowed a town resident to apply to fly a flag on the town’s flagpole.
Rodrigues said the application resulted in the flagpole being considered for a public forum, though the subject of a flag cannot be considered when reviewing an application presented under the old policy.
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Under the new policy, the use of the flagpole is limited to statements of governmental speech, the station reported, which goes along with a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shurtleff v. Boston.
“According to the decision in the Shurtleff case, the Town may not prohibit a flag to be flown based on its content, its meaning or its message,” Rodrigues wrote. “This limitation on the Select Board’s discretion indicates that denial of a resident’s flag application under the prior policy places the Town in jeopardy of legal action.”
The news station also reported that the town has allowed an Israeli flag to fly in the Town Common since early October, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel.
North Andover isn’t the only Massachusetts town to OK raising the Palestinian flag in the public square. Last week, the state’s second-largest city, Worcester, flew the Palestinian flag in front of City Hall, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
And like in North Andover, the Israeli flag had a week-long run in Worcester last month after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.
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President Biden is set for a face-to-face, high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday as the U.S. and China — two of the world’s biggest economic powerhouses — struggle to defuse tensions.
Biden will go into the meeting in San Francisco with some key goals, including resuming direct military-to-military lines of communication as a way to lower the temperature between Washington and Beijing. The sensitive issue of Taiwan is also on the table, as are the wars in Europe and the Middle East.
The meeting, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, marks the first time Xi has come to the U.S. in six years. Biden and Xi last met one year ago in Indonesia but have not spoken since.
Here are five things to watch for in the Biden-Xi meeting.
The White House has focused on the resumption of a direct military-to-military line of communication as a deliverable goal of the summit, after the Chinese severed the line in August 2022 following a visit by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to Taiwan.
The Chinese have been “reluctant” to resume the communication channels, according to senior administration officials, so Biden will go into the meeting with plans to “press assertively” on re-establishing them, officials said.
Biden himself said Tuesday a successful meeting with Xi would mean getting “back on a normal course of corresponding, being able to pick up the phone and talk to one another when there’s another crisis, being able to make sure our militaries still have contact with one another.”
The president sees resuming such communications as a key way to dial back tensions, following confrontations between naval ships and airplanes from China and the U.S., along with other countries, in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. There was also the matter of a Chinese spy balloon traversing the U.S. for days earlier this year before the Air Force shot it down.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the spy balloon incident is an example of how the president will focus on challenges the China relationship poses in the context of how to deal with them going forward, noting how Biden ordered the take down of the balloon, its recovery and efforts to exploit the surveillance satellite.
“The United States, the president is going to focus at this point on how he stands up for and protects American interests going forward across the full range of challenges in this relationship, of which this is one,” Sullivan said.
Biden is expected to raise the topic of Taiwan during his meeting with Xi, broaching a thorny subject that has been a source of conflict between the two countries in recent years.
The president will “set out a vision for peace and stability and the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Sullivan told reporters.
That will come in the face of the U.S. has pushing back against China’s aggressive military posturing in the Taiwan Strait, warning that Beijing could be preparing for an invasion or blockade of the island in the coming years. The Biden administration has provided weapons for Taiwan, and Biden has said U.S. forces would defend Taiwan against an attack.
That will also make for a politically significant upcoming year, experts said.
“Both countries are expecting a potentially rocky year in 2024 with the Taiwan presidential elections in January 2024 but also the U.S. presidential elections in November 2024, and both could inject more uncertainty into the bilateral relationship,” said Bonny Lin, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The Biden administration has carefully watched Beijing’s response to both the war in Ukraine as well as in the war that has exploded between Israel and Hamas over the last month.
White House officials for months warned of the possibility that China would provide support to Russia to aid in its invasion of Ukraine. Xi met last month with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing, underscoring the relationship between the two nations.
Administration officials have also highlighted China’s potential role in the Middle East conflict, noting Beijing’s ties to Iran, which has, through proxies targeted American troops in Iraq and Syria since the war in Gaza began.
“President Biden will make the point to President Xi that Iran acting in an escalatory, destabilizing way that undermines stability across the broader Middle East is not in the interests of — of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] or of any other responsible country,” Sullivan told reporters.
“And the PRC, of course, has a relationship with Iran, and it’s capable, if it chooses to, of making those points directly to the Iranian government.”
The Biden administration often describes the relationship with China as a competitive relationship. Top officials and the president have said they are focused on how to manage that relationship so it doesn’t steer into conflict, which will be a large part of the stance going into Wednesday’s meeting.
Officials also argue that reestablishing the military-to-military communications is a way to effectively manage competition and that the diplomacy of the Biden administration so far with China has allowed them to contain it.
Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific security chair at Hudson Institute, described the focus on managing competition as a “very realistic, resilient framework” that the White House has built. He noted that Xi sees this meeting coming at a time to strengthen his economy, which has been reportedly struggling in recent months.
“There is a comprehensive approach to Xi Jinping. He has steered a long-term strategy for the People’s Republic of China,” Cronin said. “He’s continuing to try to accentuate political power, both within under his leadership but also outside China, that is to have more influence befitting what he thinks is China’s just position in the world.”
Sullivan said that there may be progress at the meeting when it comes to the matter of containing fentanyl, which could open the door for progress on other crucial issues.
The Justice Department last month announced eight indictments against Chinese companies and nationals, charging them with crimes relating to fentanyl and methamphetamine production, the distribution of synthetic opioids and sales of the chemicals used to make them.
“The issue of fentanyl—we’re hoping to see some progress on that issue this coming week. And that could, then, open the door to further cooperation on other issues where we aren’t just managing things, but we’re actually delivering tangible results. We’ll continue to work at that as we go forward,” he said.
The way Biden handles fentanyl issues in relation to China is set to follow him throughout the 2024 campaign. Republicans consistently hammer Biden on the situation at the U.S. southern border, maintaining that Biden administration policies encourage drugs to come over the border.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley recently criticized Biden for having “begged” to get a meeting with Xi and questioned what the two will talk about, arguing that Biden will want to focus on climate change, something the GOP generally cast aside, while he should be discussing the problem of fentanyl in the U.S.
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