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Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is urging the court to impose a substantial sentence on David DePape, the conspiracy theorist who broke into her home and violently attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi, in October 2022. The attack occurred shortly before the midterm elections, leaving Paul Pelosi with severe injuries and ongoing health issues.

Paul Pelosi continues to suffer from dizziness, headaches, balance problems, nerve pain, and challenges with walking following the attack. In her letter to the court, Nancy Pelosi recounted the traumatic night when DePape broke into their San Francisco home, threatened to kidnap her, and brutally assaulted her husband with a hammer in her absence.

“A violent man broke into our home, threatened to kidnap me and – in his own words – made my husband Paul ‘take the punishment’ in my absence with a near-fatal attack with a hammer,” Nancy Pelosi wrote. “Paul and I have not discussed the events of that horrible night. Paul doesn’t want to undergo revisiting it, and the doctors’ advice is that discussing the vicious assault would only renew his trauma.”

Terri McCullough, Pelosi’s chief of staff, also wrote to the sentencing judge, drawing a parallel to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot where rioters chanted, “Where’s Nancy?” as they sought to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s election win. McCullough highlighted the ongoing threat to Pelosi and her family, noting that the attack on Paul Pelosi underscored their vulnerability.

“We could not imagine anything worse could happen in our world,” McCullough wrote. “Yet I did, because of this defendant’s actions. ‘Where’s Nancy?’ he asked. After the brutal attack of Mr. Pelosi in October 2022, we knew the Speaker and her family were not safe in their own homes.”

The Justice Department is seeking a 40-year prison sentence for DePape, who was convicted last year on charges of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official. DePape admitted during his trial that he intended to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and “break her kneecaps” if she lied to him. He confessed to attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer when police arrived at the scene.