The FBI has opened a criminal case after receiving a tip about a woman named Riley, who is accused of taking a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
According to an FBI affidavit filed Sunday, the tipster, described as a former romantic partner, identified Riley in a video taken inside the Capitol. The affidavit says the footage shows her directing people “upstairs” toward Pelosi’s office.
CNN reports that the tipster also told the FBI they spoke with friends of Riley who showed them a video of her taking a laptop or hard drive from the Speaker’s office. The tipster claimed Riley planned to send the device to a friend in Russia, who would then sell it to the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service. The affidavit says the transfer to Russia “fell through for unknown reasons” and that Riley either still has the device or destroyed it. Those details come from the tipster and have not been proven in court.
Two days after the attack, Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, said on Twitter that a laptop used for presentations in the Speaker’s office had been stolen. The FBI says the matter remains under investigation.
Social media users shared video that appears to show a woman leaving the scene holding a bag. One tweet read, “Well, I totally captured a woman fleeing the #CapitolRiot with Pelosi’s laptop/hard drive. Huh.”
On Monday, NBC News correspondent Tom Winter reported that Riley was arrested and charged over her role in the Capitol riot. He wrote that the FBI says she told a former partner she intended to send the laptop or hard drive to Russia. A response from Riley was not included in the reports we reviewed, and she is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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