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We’re now three weeks removed from a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead including a police officer.
As FBI officials are starting to arrest those involved, one person who reportedly played a part in stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop faces charges for her actions, but was released by a federal judge while she awaits trial.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Carlson released Riley June Williams into the custody of her mother and placed travel restrictions on her last week. The 22-year-old Harrisburg, Pennsylvania woman now says she doesn’t have Pelosi’s laptop and claims the “allegations against her are all lies told by a vengeful ex-boyfriend.”
Fortalice Solutions CEO and former CIO for the White House, Theresa Payton, weighed in on the case against Williams, along with the conditions around her alleged thief of the Speaker’s computer.
“I know from a White House prospective, and the hill has their own CIO, but one of the things we always assumed is that our devices were targets,” Payton told WBT’s Bo Thompson Morning on Wednesday.
“They could be left behind by accident or somebody could try to run up and take something– different things could happen. So, we always installed the ability to do something that we refer to in the industry as “bricking a device.” The process of disabling an electronic device remotely to render it useless.
Payton noted that it’s interesting that Williams is still able to use the internet while out on bail.
“I’m a little surprised that when they gave her parole, that they didn’t tell her as part of her parole that she had to stay off the internet. Because if she’s breaking parole, they could put her right back in jail and sort of stop the internet access there.
Payton says even though Williams may not physically be in possession of Pelosi’s laptop, the rioter could’ve captured data, if it was accessible.
“It’s possible in the fog of the riots, and what’s been taken and what hasn’t been taken, that in those moments nobody knew who had what. She may have been able to take screenshots of information. Maybe she didn’t get data off the device, but she could’ve taken screenshots of information she saw in the office.”
A story that will likely produce more details in the coming weeks as court documents from Washington, D.C. are released.
Payton went on to say, “If (Williams) has been on the internet, clearly they’ve been tracking her and can see what she’s doing. They can get warrants through the court system and see who she’s communicating with.
Listen to the entire interview with Theresa Payton on WBT’s Bo Thompson Morning Show below.
