‘Who’s gonna hack it?’ Jan. 6 rioter who stole Nancy Pelosi’s laptop now facing charges, feds say

The Kentucky man who prosecutors say stole then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop from her office during the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol has been arrested in the case.

David Slinker is believed to have taken Pelosi’s laptop with the help of other rioters that day from the Speaker’s Conference Room and stashed it in his backpack before he left the conference room and exited the Capitol building, authorities said.

Slinker was arrested on Oct. 29 on misdemeanor charges of trespassing, impeding or disrupting the orderly conduct of government business, and disorderly conduct. He was not charged with the theft of the laptop, which authorities have not found, and said a search of Slinker’s home in 2023 didn’t turn it up.

Slinker was allegedly among the first group of rioters in the conference room that day, according to recently unsealed court documents.

On a table was Pelosi’s Hewlett-Packard 640 G5 laptop — with a sticky note with possible handwritten computer passwords affixed to it, court documents said.

The rioters ogled it.

“Look at them emails!” someone said.

“Oh, s—!… Yo, who’s gonna hack it?” others said.

Slinker climbed onto the table and posed for a selfie, the laptop visible behind him. After taking the selfie, Slinker examined the laptop, touching the keyboard with his knuckle in an effort to avoid leaving fingerprints, documents said.

A fellow rioter, Maryann Mooney-Rondon, encouraged him to take the computer, saying, “It would be interesting to see what’s on that hard drive,” court documents said.

Mooney-Rondon’s son, Rafael Rondon, added, “just do it without — no — no fingerprints there,” court documents said.

Slinker then allegedly closed the laptop with his elbows and tried to move it, court documents said. Slinker then allegedly used a knit or fleece glove to manipulate the cables connected to the laptop. Another rioter wearing gloves reached under Slinker’s arm and appeared to unplug the ethernet cable attached to the laptop, according to court documents.

Someone else nearby yelled, “Dude, put on gloves.” Mooney-Rondon then reached over to assist, according to court documents.

Rondon assisted Slinker in taking the laptop by disconnecting cables from it and placing the device into Slinker’s backpack, the document said. Slinker then hoisted the backpack onto both shoulders as he left the conference room and exited the building at 2:37 p.m. through the Memorial Doors, court documents said.

In a search of Slinker’s home on Nov. 21, 2023, authorities recovered multiple electronic devices, including mobile digital devices, an external hard drive, and a laptop that was not the one taken from the Speaker’s Conference Room.

Barry Coburn, one of Slinker’s attorneys, declined to comment, The Associated Press reported.

Mooney-Rondon was convicted of theft of government property following a bench trial. Her case remains pending following her appeal and remand for resentencing, with a hearing set for Tuesday.

Her son entered a guilty plea in the same case to obstruction of an official proceeding. He was sentenced on Nov. 29, 2023, to five years of probation and $2,000 in restitution. The FBI did not find the laptop during a search of Mooney-Rondon and Rafael Rondon in conjunction with their arrests.

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