The FBI is investigating whether a woman who took part in the storm on January 6 at the US Capitol stole a laptop from the home office of Nancy Pelosi and planned to sell it to Russia.
The lawsuit, which is still under investigation, is set out in an affidavit filed by the FBI Sunday, setting out the case against Riley June Williams, a Pennsylvania woman seen in footage of the uprising in the Capitol that crowds rig.
According to the affidavit, a person identified as Williams’ former romantic partner called the FBI tip line to identify Williams. The tipster told the FBI that they were talking to friends of Williams who showed them a video of the woman taking a laptop or a hard drive from Pelosi’s office, the statement said.
The tipster “stated that Williams intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, the Russian foreign intelligence service.”
It is also noted that, “for unknown reasons”, the sale went through and that Williams still owns or has destroyed the device.
The FBI said in the affidavit that the tip is still being investigated. Williams is facing charges related to access to a restricted building and disorderly conduct.
In the days following the January 6 uprising, Pelosi chief of staff Drew Hammill tweeted that a laptop used for presentations only had been taken out of a conference room.
Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment and it is not clear if there is a connection between Hammill’s tweet and the FBI’s investigation.
Williams was identified on the day of the coup attempt as a woman wearing a brown coat and black-and-white zebra print bag. The FBI described video footage showing Williams leading crowds to a stairway as she shouted, “Up, up, up.” ‘
According to the FBI, the staircase shown in the video footage leads to Pelosi’s office.
In an interview with local law enforcement officers in Pennsylvania, Williams’ father confirmed that he attended the January 6 march with his daughter, but they did not stay together all day.
According to the affidavit, Williams “packed a bag and left her home and told her mother she would be gone for a few weeks.” She has since changed her phone number and deleted her accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Telegram and Parler, according to the FBI.
A woman answering a phone number to Williams’ mother declined to comment. Williams’ father did not immediately respond to a request for comment.