A Pennsylvania woman seen in video during the riot at the U.S. Capitol is on the run from the FBI, which is investigating whether she stole a laptop computer from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, hoping to sell it to Russia, Slate reports.
An FBI affidavit says “a former romantic partner” of Riley June Williams that she “intended to send [the laptop] to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service,” the news website says.
If the claim is true, the scheme apparently fell through, and the source believes Williams still has the computer or has destroyed it.
Shortly after the riot, Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s chief of staff, tweeted that a laptop “only used for presentations” was stolen from a conference room.
Williams’ mother told law enforcement that her daughter “packed a bag and left her home” saying she’d be “gone for a couple of weeks.”
Williams “appears to have changed her number and deleted her social media accounts,” Slate says.
The website adds that so far, Williams “isn’t being officially accused of theft and is facing charges of entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct, like many of those who took part in the riot.”
