Defense attorney says investigators have not recovered a stolen laptop in the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the US Capitol attack
HARRISBURG, Pa. – A laptop stolen from the offices of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, during the attack on the United States Capitol has not been recovered from the house or car of a Pennsylvania woman accused of helping to steal said the woman’s lawyer on Tuesday.
Public Defender AJ Kramer told a federal judge that investigators searched Riley June Williams’ car and Harrisburg residence, but did not locate the computer.
U.S. Attorney General Mona Sedky said during a hearing in Washington that she was reluctant to say more about what she described as an ongoing, fluid investigation, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
“I am very uncomfortable discussing the facts of the case at this stage,” Sedky said. “I’m concerned that talking about what we do and what we don’t know and what we’re running into can jeopardize research.”
Williams, 22, is accused of helping steal the laptop, which a Pelosi aide has said was only used for presentations. She is electronically monitored and largely confined to her home to await trial on that charge, along with obstruction, rape and violent entry, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Sedky told the judge there is evidence Williams has directed other people to delete data after the attack, according to the newspaper. U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui restricted Williams’ Internet access while awaiting trial.
The FBI has said a former unidentified romantic couple of Williams informed them that he had appeared in a video since the Jan. 6 riots and that the tipster claimed he hoped to sell the computer to Russian intelligence.
His lawyers have said the tipster’s allegations are exaggerated.
The riot video shows a woman matching Williams’ description urging the invaders to go “up, up, up” during the attack. The FBI has said Williams was recorded on CCTV cameras entering and leaving the Capitol’s office in Pelosi’s office.
An FBI affidavit said a cell phone video probably filmed by Williams showed the gloved hand of a man lifting an HP laptop from a table and the headline read, “They had the laptop.”