San Francisco: Hollywood icon Tom Hanks was on a list of potential targets for the man accused of using a sledgehammer on US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, a US court heard on Wednesday.

According to David Deppe, he planned to kidnap the leader of the Democratic Party in Congress and force him to confess to "lies" or he would break his knees.

However, when he broke into their San Francisco home in October, he discovered her 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, and beat him with a hammer, after what police claimed was a "very cordial" exchange.

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San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stephen Murphy decided Wednesday that there was enough evidence to allow Deppe, 42, a former Canadian public nudity activist, to go on trial for the assault that caused Paul Pelosi's skull to be broken.

The charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary, false imprisonment, and endangering the life or serious physical well-being of an officer have been denied by the defendant.

According to evidence presented in court, Nancy Pelosi was not the only high-profile target that Dieppe told investigators about.
Hanks, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Joe Biden's son Hunter, frequent targets of right-wing conspiracy theories, were among them.

Prosecutors played excerpts from an interview Dieppe gave to detectives after his arrest during Wednesday's hearing.

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According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the suspect claimed to have informed Paul Pelosi that he had no intention of turning himself in.

The recording shows Deppe saying, "I threatened him a few times, but for the most part it was quite amicable.
But the Chronicle reported that when he attacked Pelosi, he did so with "full force".

Nancy Pelosi, who as Speaker of the House is second in line to the US presidency after the Vice President, was not present at the time of the attack in San Francisco.

While her assailant was inside the home, Paul Pelosi was able to call the police.

Before the police could stop him, the assailant broke Pelosi's skull and dropped her. According to the Chronicle, prosecutors screened body camera footage from an officer on Wednesday.

Dieppe was told to put the hammer down prior to the attack and the scuffle that followed, and was heard to say, "Uh, no." As the Chronicle reports, at the end of the video, "Pelosi's snoring sounds loud after being struck with a hammer."

A few days before the crucial midterm elections, there was an attack and an attempted kidnapping. National figures often feed America's agitated political climate with ridiculous conspiracy theories.

The judge declared Wednesday that "the only reasonable interpretation of (DePep's) statements is that he intended to kill Paul Pelosi when Mr. Pelosi got in the way."

Deppe was told to return for a court appearance on 28 December.

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DePape is the subject of a separate federal investigation. He has denied the allegations of kidnapping and assault made there.
Paul Pelosi underwent surgery after the attack and spent about a week in the hospital.

Afterwards, according to Nancy Pelosi, her husband was dealing with "a long recovery process".