Nancy Pelosi's husband recounts details of night he was attacked, calls it 'traumatic'

Paul Pelosi, husband of former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, on Monday (Nov 13) took the stand as he for the first time recounted the details of the night when he was attacked by a hammer-wielding man in the San Francisco home.

Paul recalled the moment, stating that it was shocking to see a man standing at the bedroom door of the house he shares with his wife. He said that he has never discussed the incident with anyone "because it has been too traumatic".

He testified in the trial of David DePape, who is shown on video carrying out the attack. Paul recalled how the man whacked him in the head with a hammer.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

"It was a tremendous sense of shock to recognise that somebody had broken into the house and looking at him and looking at the hammer and the ties, I recognised that I was in serious danger, so I tried to stay as calm as possible," he told the jurors.

According to the prosecutors, DePape bludgeoned Pelosi last year in the early hours of Oct 28.

The incident happened just days before the midterm elections. The prosecutors also said that he had rope and zip ties with him.

DePape has pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official.

Jodi Linker, who is that defence attorney, told the jurors last week that she will argue that DePape believed "with every ounce of his being" that his actions were meant to stop government corruption. Linker said that she won't dispute that DePape attacked Pelosi.

Watch:Xi, Biden to meet next week to ‘stabilise’ ties, says US

What happened on the night of the incident?

According to Paul, he was apparently woken up when the man entered his bedroom. The man was asking, "Where's Nancy?"

Paul replied that his wife was in Washington, in return he was tied up by the intruder and they waited for her.

Paul said: "We had some conversation with him saying she was the leader of the pack, he had to take her out, and that he was going to wait for her."

It has been reported that Paul and Nancy's house has an alarm system with motion detectors.

However, Paul said that it mostly remained off when he was home alone because his movements would trigger it.

When the man struck him, Paul received injuries. When images surfaced of paramedics helping him, his face and hands were seen covered in blood.

Paul later underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands.

(With inputs from agencies)