A 22-year-old woman accused of stealing a laptop belonging to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and planning to sell it to Russia has been arrested, the Associated Press and Axios reported, citing the Justice Department.
Riley June Williams was arrested on Monday, both outlets reported.
CNN reported that she had surrendered herself to law-enforcement authorities. Insider has contacted the Justice Department for confirmation.
According to an FBI affidavit released on Sunday, Williams’ mother, who lives with her in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, had told local law-enforcement officers that Williams had packed a bag, changed her phone number, and deleted a number of social media accounts before the arrest.
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Williams has been charged with entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct in relation to the Capitol riot, but not with theft.
However, in the affidavit, FBI special agent Jonathan Lund said Williams “remains under investigation” after a person claiming to be her former romantic partner called in to say they had seen a video of Williams stealing a laptop, and that Williams planned to sell it to Russia.
On January 8, Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill said that a laptop “only used for presentations” had been taken from her office during the riot.
According to the FBI affidavit, the caller said that Williams intended to send the laptop to a friend in Russia, who would then sell it to Russia’s foreign intelligence service.
But, according to the caller, “the transfer of the computer device to Russia fell through for unknown reasons and Williams still has the computer device or destroyed it,” the affidavit said.
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Before her arrest on Monday, Williams had “left her home and told her mother she would be gone for a couple of weeks,” the FBI affidavit said, citing information from Harrisburg law enforcement.
“Sometime after January 6, 2021, Williams changed her telephone number and deleted what I believe were her social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Telegram, and Parler,” said Lund, the special agent.
In the affidavit, Lund also posted now-defunct links to two YouTube videos showing the Capitol riot, one of which was a report by the British broadcaster ITV. Lund identified Williams in the videos, saying she wore a “green t-shirt, brown trench coat, and black-and-white shoulder bag.”
The FBI is conducting a number of other investigations in relation to the Capitol riot.
The bureau is probing whether foreign actors provided funding to groups and individuals who helped instigate the violence, according to NBC News.
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The FBI told Insider on Monday that US Capitol Police had detained Couy Griffin, an elected Republican county commissioner in New Mexico.
Griffin, who had pledged to bring guns to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday, “was the subject of an arrest warrant for his role in the January 6 Capitol riots,” the FBI said.
Parler, a social media site popular among the far right, is also sharing information with the FBI to help it track down those suspected of perpetrating violent acts on January 6.
The FBI has charged more than 70 people so far in connection with the January 6 riot.
(www.newsnow.co.uk)
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