Woman may have tried to sell Pelosi computer device to Russians, FBI says

[webfact]

Woman may have tried to sell Pelosi computer device to Russians, FBI says

By Jan Wolfe

 

A woman identified in a warrant logged January 17, 2021 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as Riley June Williams, a Pennsylvania woman accused of unlawfully breaching the U.S. Capitol building and directing people to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, is seen in an undated driver's license photograph. FBI/Handout via REUTERS

 

(Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement is investigating whether a woman took a laptop computer or hard drive from U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol and tried to sell the device to Russian intelligence, according to a court filing.

 

An FBI agent disclosed the detail in an affidavit released on Sunday night that outlined a criminal case against Riley June Williams, a Pennsylvania woman accused of unlawfully breaching the Capitol building and directing people to Pelosi's office.

 

The theft of electronic devices from congressional offices has been a persistent worry following the siege by supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.

 

Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin said after the attack that some of the thefts might have potentially jeopardized what he described as “national security equities.”

 

According to the affidavit filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the FBI received a tip from someone who stated they were a former romantic partner of Williams.

 

The tipster said 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 affidavit stated.

 

According to the tipster, "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 stated. The investigation remains open.

 

Williams could not be reached for comment.

 

According to the FBI, it appears Williams has fled an address near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that she shared with her mother, deactivated her phone number, and took down social media accounts.

 

A Pelosi spokesman, Drew Hammill, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Two days after the Capitol siege, Hammill said a laptop used for presentations was stolen from a conference room in Pelosi's office. It was unclear whether that device was the one Williams was accused of taking.

 

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Additional reporting by Brad Heath; Editing by Mary Milliken and Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-19

 

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[Tug]

Another traitor for trump hope they catch her and send her away for a very very long time 

[sirineou]

You gotta love these American Patriots. 

[Chomper Higgot]

Odd that this rightwing extremist thought it a good idea to try to sell the laptop to the Russians.

 

I wonder why the Russians?!

[mtls2005]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

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 affidavit stated.

 

Uhm, can we send Riley June to Russia instead?

 

 

[tonray]

28 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Odd that this rightwing extremist thought it a good idea to try to sell the laptop to the Russians.

 

I wonder why the Russians?!

HIghest Bidder....Takes a lot of cash to support a movement so devoid of any real substance

[Jeffr2]

Just shows how unpatriotic these Trump supporters are.  They say they are, but their actions prove otherwise.

 

Lock her up for years.

[mtls2005]

6 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Lock her up for years.

 

Or at least as long as Reality Winner.

 

 

 

 

[bendejo]

A true gesture of patriotism. 

Should have approached Team Tr__p with her enemy intelligence, or at least the RNC.  Can't you just hear Don Jr saying "I love it!"  (his famous quote).  Or approach one of the media pitbulls like A Jones.

 

I'm trying to understand her thinking on this, can't figure any way it would play into something ideologically pro-US, so I'd guess it was strictly for $$$. 

 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

According to the tipster, "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 stated. The investigation remains open.

 

Gotta wonder why Russia. 

Maybe she had actually been snared by a LE entity.

Or she could be a Sean Penn fan 

The Falcon and the Snowman

 

 

[2530Ubon]

Why did she bother? Trump's given them everything they need anyway. Putin himself said Trumps lips are rather supple.

[mtls2005]

10 minutes ago, 2530Ubon said:

Why did she bother?

 

She was trying to pull herself up by her own bootstraps?

 

 

[dddave]

2 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Odd that this rightwing extremist thought it a good idea to try to sell the laptop to the Russians.

 

I wonder why the Russians?!

Free-Market Republican. Not very astute though.  Should have put it on E-Bay.  I'm sure the N. Koreans, Iranians and a few others would have submitted competitive bids.

[Guffman]

"may have" ,"intended to" There are no facts in this story, just somebody said that.....

[OneMoreFarang]

Maybe she should look at the news from time to time. Then she would know that (allegedly) the Russians hacked most of the US government computer networks in the last year. They really don't need another notebook with a few presentations.

[bendejo]

Didn't understand the Cold War and didn't know it's been over for 30 years.

 

Or maybe thought Russia was DT's friend, part of MAGA movement.

 

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by bendejo

[Bluespunk]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

U.S. law enforcement is investigating whether a woman took a laptop computer or hard drive from U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol and tried to sell the device to Russian intelligence, according to a court filing.

Maga

[bendejo]

40 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

(For Sale/Best Offer: Nancy Pelosi's notebook)

 

If she posted that in TVF's IT Forum someone would try to convince to swap out the hard drive for an SSD. 

A white-hat hacker would have dumped the info somewhere on the net in the name of freedom of information, and kept her own copy as well.  There already is one hacker heroine of this insurrection

Archived posts from Capitol riots could reveal platform's role in the insurrection

 

 

[onthedarkside]

Update:

 

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.

 

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/534727-woman-accused-of-trying-to-sell-pelosi-laptop-to-russians-arrested

 

[Jeffr2]

18 minutes ago, onthedarkside said:

Update:

 

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.

 

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/534727-woman-accused-of-trying-to-sell-pelosi-laptop-to-russians-arrested

 

OMG.  She's toast.  Fantastic.

[Cory1848]

7 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Odd that this rightwing extremist thought it a good idea to try to sell the laptop to the Russians.

I wonder why the Russians?!

Maybe she saw the Coen Brothers movie “Burn after Reading,” in which a clueless Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt try to sell worthless information to the Russians. Although this woman is probably not a Coen Brothers fan.

[J Town]

Waiting to see how MAGA supporters spin THIS story.

[Surelynot]

1 hour ago, Jeffr2 said:

OMG.  She's toast.  Fantastic.

Guaranteed pardon....a real patriot......protecting freedom in the US......could get the congressional medal

[xylophone]

10 minutes ago, Cory1848 said:

Maybe she saw the Coen Brothers movie “Burn after Reading,” in which a clueless Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt try to sell worthless information to the Russians. Although this woman is probably not a Coen Brothers fan.

I don't think you can put a label on these people, although some appear to want to call them patriots or right-wing extremists, whereas others, insurrectionists and I'm sure there are lots of other labels out there.

 

I was tempted to call them nutters/loonies, but a recent article I read puts a different light on it, inasmuch as a lot of the people in movements like QAnon are not necessarily nutters, but there is another reason for them being there – – they are disturbed in one way or another and as one writer puts it, "What attracts Gilbert and many other people to QAnon isn't just the content of the conspiracy theory itself. It's the community and sense of mission it provides. New QAnon believers are invited to chat rooms and group texts, and their posts are showered with likes and retweets. They make friends and are told that they are not lonely Facebook addicts squinting at zoomed-in paparazzi photos but patriots gathering "intel" for a righteous revolution".

And the stuff they believe in, you just couldn't make it up, for example: – "Like all QAnon faithful, she is convinced that the world is run by a Satanic group of paedophiles that includes top Democrats and Hollywood elites, and that President Donald Trump has spent years leading a top-secret mission to bring these evildoers to justice".

And even more frightening, "This social element also means that QAnon followers aren't likely to be persuaded out of their beliefs with logic and reason alone".

Open this link and read this article, because I believe it's very good and does throw another light on people like this: –

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/a-qanon-digital-soldier-marches-on-undeterred-by-theorys-unravelling/ZFL42HEOJZO7PXVVYSZASQTAIE/ 
 

[malibukid]

give her a break, she needed to feed her starving kids since the Republicans voted against the stimulus bill.

[Surelynot]

Just now, xylophone said:

I don't think you can put a label on these people, although some appear to want to call them patriots or right-wing extremists, whereas others, insurrectionists and I'm sure there are lots of other labels out there.

 

I was tempted to call them nutters/loonies, but a recent article I read puts a different light on it, inasmuch as a lot of the people in movements like QAnon are not necessarily nutters, but there is another reason for them being there – – they are disturbed in one way or another and as one writer puts it, "What attracts Gilbert and many other people to QAnon isn't just the content of the conspiracy theory itself. It's the community and sense of mission it provides. New QAnon believers are invited to chat rooms and group texts, and their posts are showered with likes and retweets. They make friends and are told that they are not lonely Facebook addicts squinting at zoomed-in paparazzi photos but patriots gathering "intel" for a righteous revolution".

And the stuff they believe in, you just couldn't make it up, for example: – "Like all QAnon faithful, she is convinced that the world is run by a Satanic group of paedophiles that includes top Democrats and Hollywood elites, and that President Donald Trump has spent years leading a top-secret mission to bring these evildoers to justice".

And even more frightening, "This social element also means that QAnon followers aren't likely to be persuaded out of their beliefs with logic and reason alone".

Open this link and read this article, because I believe it's very good and does throw another light on people like this: –

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/a-qanon-digital-soldier-marches-on-undeterred-by-theorys-unravelling/ZFL42HEOJZO7PXVVYSZASQTAIE/ 
 

You can see a strong parallel with gang culture.......but I would also say there is still something seriously wrong with people who need to find this kind of community.......parents, I guess, are the last people who should be allowed to have children.

[Andy from Kent]

 

The lady clearly needs mental help.     She's crying out to end up in  a penal  institution.

 

A turtle would be smarter than to advertise such an infamous item. 

 

[GrandPapillon]

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe she should look at the news from time to time. Then she would know that (allegedly) the Russians hacked most of the US government computer networks in the last year. They really don't need another notebook with a few presentations.

indeed, and she got reported by her ex, after she dumped him ????

[J Town]

13 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

Guaranteed pardon....a real patriot......protecting freedom in the US......could get the congressional medal

If Limbaugh and Jim Jordan get a medal, then so should she. They're all cut from the same cloth.

[Surelynot]

Just now, J Town said:

If Limbaugh and Jim Jordan get a medal, then so should she. They're all cut from the same cloth.

Jordan, in particular, makes my blood boil.

[xylophone]

9 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

You can see a strong parallel with gang culture.......but I would also say there is still something seriously wrong with people who need to find this kind of community.......parents, I guess, are the last people who should be allowed to have children.

Yes I believe you can find a strong parallel with gang culture, although a lot of people who join the gangs are not the brightest, yet this bunch seem to have had some "fairly bright" people amongst them.

For me it also has echoes of "Scientology", whereby the "lost and lonely/bewildered" people are taken in and given a sense of meaning/caring about them, so they stay with this cult.
 

Edited January 19, 2021 by xylophone