ANCHORAGE (AP) - Federal agents served a search warrant at a small resort in Homer last week, saying they were looking for a laptop stolen from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, one of the Homer Inn and Spa owners said.
Agents on April 28 confiscated laptop computers and a cellphone, owner Marilyn Hueper said. A cellphone belonging to her husband, Paul Hueper, was also searched by agents but not confiscated, she said.
Marilyn Hueper said agents also claimed there was photographic evidence that she was inside the Capitol during the riot; something she denies. No arrests were made.
The couple attended then-President Donald Trump’s rally in Washington on the day of the insurrection but denied entering the Capitol.
When agents arrived at their living quarters at the resort on April 28, she said agents told her she probably knew why they were there.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, no, not really,’” she told Kenai radio station KSRM. The Huepers did not return a message The Associated Press left on the resort’s phone April 30.
“And they said, ‘Well, we’re here for Nancy Pelosi’s laptop.’ And I said, ‘Oh, so it was stolen and it’s at large, good to know. I thought maybe it was just conspiracy theory, so thanks for the intel,’” she said.
Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, confirmed Jan. 8 that a laptop was taken from a conference room but said “it was a laptop that was only used for presentations.”
Agents then asked her who she was working with, Marilyn Hueper said. She replied by starting to laugh, and then apologized to the agent. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful and laughing, but this is really surreal and strange,” she told the radio station.
Chloe Martin, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Anchorage field office, confirmed agents conducted a court-authorized law enforcement activity at the Homer Inn and Spa.
“While individuals are free to speak about their interactions with the FBI, we do not, as a matter of practice, discuss or describe any contact we have or allegedly have with individuals,” she said in an email to the AP. “At this time, and until it reaches the public realm, we can’t discuss the details.”
Paul Hueper said he took a photo of his wife walking up the Capitol steps on Jan. 6, but they were no closer than 100 yards from the building entrance. He posted that photo on Instagram.
She said agents told her there was video footage of her in the building, but Marilyn Hueper claims it’s a case of mistaken identity.
Agents showed her photos of a woman wearing a black Columbia coat with white lettering on the left shoulder, the same as she was wearing, Marilyn Hueper said, acknowledging both women were close in age with a similar hairstyle.
That is where the similarities ended, she told the station. The woman was wearing a sweater that Marilyn Hueper claimed she would never own, and she said she has attached earlobes.
“This chick looks like she has detached earlobes, which makes me jealous,” Marilyn Hueper said of the woman in the screen grabs. “I’ve always wanted detached earlobes.”
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