Woman accused of trying to sell Pelosi laptop to Russians arrested

A woman who the FBI says took a laptop belonging to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and tried to sell it to Russians has been arrested.

Riley June Williams was arrested on Monday in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, according to a listing on the Justice Department’s website tracking arrests made in connection to the siege.

Williams is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, as well as violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

The FBI said in a court filing on Sunday that a witness identifying himself as a former romantic partner told the bureau that Williams “intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service.”

The transfer fell through for unknown reasons, and Williams either still has the computer or destroyed it.

The witness also showed the FBI video of Williams apparently stealing the laptop.

Williams’s arrest is one of more than 100 made so far in connection with the riot that led to five deaths, including that of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. 

Rioters storming the Capitol earlier this month accessed Pelosi’s office. The Speaker’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, said after the riot that a laptop used for presentations was stolen. It’s still unclear whether that was the laptop authorities said Williams took.