San Francisco (AFP) - The man accused of attacking the husband of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges when he appeared Tuesday in a San Francisco court.
David DePape, 42, was ordered to be held in custody after the arraignment in the city where he is alleged to have assaulted Paul Pelosi in a pre-dawn attack in the couple's luxury home.
DePape, of California, was arrested Friday morning after he allegedly broke into the mansion, intending to tie up the powerful politician and break her kneecaps if she did not confess to Democratic Party "lies," the US Justice Department said in a court filing.
DePape had tape, rope, zip ties and other materials with him, the Justice Department said, but he found only Pelosi's 82-year-old husband, whom he attacked, hitting him in the head with a hammer.
DePape wore orange jail clothes and spoke only to answer procedural questions during the brief appearance, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
His arm was in a sling, which his lawyer said was a result of an injury he sustained during arrest.
Litmus test
The story of the attack quickly metastasized into a political litmus test in the highly divided United States.
Liberals blasted the dangerous coarsening of public discourse and the willing perpetuation of falsehoods by mainstream Republicans, that has seen Nancy Pelosi cast as a figure of hate on the right, and a legitimate target for real-life violence.
Swathes of the conservative media ecosystem, meanwhile, set about questioning the narrative around the attack with lurid and unproven allegations.
New Twitter boss Elon Musk was among those who helped spread the misinformation after tweeting a link to a speculative opinion piece by an outlet with a history of unreliability.
Speaking outside court, DePape's court-appointed lawyer Adam Lipson said the defense team would be looking into the swirling untruths that may have influenced his client.
"There's also been a lot of speculation regarding Mr. DePape's vulnerability to misinformation and that is certainly something that we are going to look into," he told reporters.
"We are going to be doing a comprehensive investigation of what happened," he said, adding: "We're going to be looking into Mr Depape's mental state."
In a court affidavit filed Monday, the FBI said DePape intended to hold Pelosi -- who is second in line to the US presidency after the vice president -- hostage and talk to her, the affidavit said.
"If Nancy were to tell DePape the 'truth,' he would let her go, and if she 'lied,' he was going to break 'her kneecaps,'" the affidavit said.
Nancy Pelosi was not in San Francisco at the time of the attack.
Awakened by the break-in, Paul Pelosi dialed the 911 emergency number and meanwhile conversed with DePape, seeking to keep the situation calm until police arrived.
But when police showed up the two struggled over a hammer and DePape smashed Paul Pelosi's head with it, leaving him unconscious, according to the affidavit.
Police subdued DePape and Pelosi, 82, was sent to a hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands.
Late Monday Nancy Pelosi issued a statement saying her husband faced "a long recovery process."
The suspect faces charges on both a state and a federal level.
DePape faces 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 their family.
Federal authorities on Monday charged DePape with attempting to kidnap a US official and assaulting her family member.
