Moar fuggery with this story…

The Woman Accused Of Stealing Pelosi’s Laptop Says She Doesn’t Have It

Riley June Williams’ lawyer says the allegations against her are all lies told by a vengeful ex.

After a long hearing in federal court in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, the case of Riley June Williams — a 22-year-old Pennsylvania woman accused of stealing, or helping to steal, a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and sell it to Russia’s foreign intelligence service — is more confusing than ever.

According to a statement of facts compiled by the FBI, a “former romantic partner” of Williams called the agency and alleged that Williams took the laptop during the storming of the US Capitol and “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 FBI added that the tipster said the sale fell through for “unknown reasons” and that Williams either still has the device or destroyed it. (Pelosi’s office has confirmed the laptop is missing, though one of her staffers tweeted two days after the insurrection that it was “only used for presentations.”)

But during the hearing Tuesday, the purpose of which was to set the conditions of her house arrest, her defense attorney, federal public defender A.J. Kramer, argued that Williams’ house and her car had been searched, and she did not have the laptop.

“In the allegation of the theft of the computer, she’s charged with aiding and abetting, not the actual theft itself,” Kramer said during the hearing. “In fact, [law enforcement] searched everywhere, and she does not have the computer. They searched the car and the house.”

Following the hearing, Kramer told BuzzFeed News over the phone that Williams denies all of the accusations made against her — from the theft itself, including aiding or encouraging the theft, to the allegations of attempting to sell it to Russia — and alleged that they were all lies all made up by an ex who, as he said in the hearing, “vowed revenge on Williams for various things.” Williams has filed for a restraining order against that ex, Kramer added.

Kramer added that he “thinks” that Williams never had the laptop at all. The Justice Department declined to comment on this suggestion.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emaoconnor/riley-june-williams-pelosi-laptop-capitol-riots