It's been a little over a year since the brutal attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. David DePape was caught on surveillance footage entering the San Francisco home of the Pelosis, and recorded on police bodycam footage attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer, fracturing his skull.

JUST IN: Paul Pelosi's hammer-wielding attacker is facing life in prison as his motive for the attack was revealed in a San Francisco courtroom.

David DePape pleaded not guilty to federal charges related to the attack.

DePape's legal counsel asserted his motivation behind the… pic.twitter.com/aR3r5HB0vy

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 10, 2023

DePape was arraigned on both federal and state charges of attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment of an elder, and threats to a public official and her family. 

On Thursday, the federal trial began. If convicted, DePape faces a possible 50-year stint in prison. DePape's history is rife with drug abuse and mental illness, but his attorney Jodi Linker held to his arraignment plea of not guilty. However, despite not pleading an insanity defense, per se, Linker's tack is quite interesting.

The man accused of bludgeoning former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer was caught up in conspiracies when he broke into her San Francisco home last year, his defense attorney said as his trial opened Thursday.

The attack on then-82-year-old Paul Pelosi in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022, sent shockwaves through the political world just days before last year’s midterm elections.

Defense attorney Jodi Linker said Thursday she won’t dispute that her client David DePape attacked Mr. Paul Pelosi, an encounter caught on police body camera video. Instead, she will argue that he believed “with every ounce of his body” that he was taking action to stop government corruption and the abuse of children by politicians and actors.

“This is not a ‘whodunit.’ But what the government fails to acknowledge is the ‘whydunit,’ and the why matters in this case,” she said.

WATCH:

So, DePape believed in right-wing conspiracy theories, and that's why he attacked Paul Pelosi. Linker's defense strategy appears to be incorporating a call DePape made to San Franciso local station KTVU in January of this year.

This very disturbing phone call indicates that DePape is focused on a global conspiracy rather than just the affairs of the U.S. government, and that Pelosi was one of many he had targeted. It is interesting that this call was made after a concerted effort by federal and state prosecutors to keep video footage and certain facts embargoed, which frankly, only fueled the QAnon nature of this, as my colleague Brad Slager asserted.

The preeminent question in the face of this is, of course, “Why?” Even given the sensitive nature of things, you would expect that if this were as clear a crime as we’re led to believe, there would be no need for this level of obfuscation. The argument of this being a public official and that personal or sensitive details might be revealed in the footage from inside the home is mitigated by having editing done or aspects of the video blurred out. 

What justification would there be to prevent the 911 call recording from being shared? Why can we not see the police interview with Depape from that night? It becomes a question of whether there is any form of a cover-up taking place, feeding only more speculation and creating more curiosity. The very fact that such a group of news outlets is banding together to get the details released dispels claims that this is conspiracy theory rantings. 

The "Whydunit" was also played out in the national media and by Nancy Pelosi herself, ad infinitum. The attack happened less than a week before the 2022 midterm elections, and then-House Speaker Pelosi chose to go on CNN and make it a political hit job. As my colleague Bob Hoge reported at the time:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 Monday night to discuss a wide range of issues including the recent hammer attack on her husband Paul, Tuesday’s midterm elections, and her future as a leader of her party. While she was moving when describing the suffering her family has gone through since the still-unexplained assault, she didn’t waste a lot of time before getting political and blaming Republicans for inciting the assailant, David DePape.

The fact that Nancy Pelosi lost her Democrat majority and the House Speaker spot could be an indication that this play may have backfired. However, the fact that Linker is still alleging that right-wing conspiracies are at fault lends credence to the fact that Pelosi threw out "Republicans are out to get me," in order to further poison the well. If that is the case, her actions were successful. Only time will tell how this plays out, and the trial continues into next week. DePape will no doubt be convicted of some of these charges no matter what defense is mounted. The speedy nature of this federal trial and reports that the state may simply accept whatever jury verdict comes down from the federal trial makes it clear that DePape served whatever purpose Pelosi and the Left needed. 

News that Pelosi is also attempting to dodge a subpoena that may be related to the case lends further weight to the fact they simply want DePape to be put away and forgotten.