Nancy Pelosi Capitol riots: Mother, son duo arrested for assisting in theft of House Speaker's laptop during insurrection

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was one of the lawmakers being targeted by the mob during the Capitol insurrection last January 6. Last week, the FBI arrested a New York-based mother and her son on charges of assisting in the stealing of Pelosi’s laptop during the insurrection.

Court documents revealed that last week, the FBI arrested Maryann Mooney-Rondon and her son Rafael Rondon of Watertown, New York, in connection with Pelosi’s stolen laptop that was only used for presentations. Both are also being charged for their participation in the Capitol riots that left five people dead and dozens of police officers injured. Rafael Rondon also faces charges of possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun, and he and his mother appeared in federal court and were released, awaiting further trials.

A tip sent to the FBI led them to track down the mother and son, according to an unnamed special agent of the agency. The court documents revealed that Mooney-Rondon admitted to being at the Capitol on January 6 as well as Pelosi’s conference room. Mooney-Rondon allegedly provided the thief with gloves or a scarf to avoid leaving fingerprints on the laptop while her son assisted the thief in storing the laptop in his bag.

“So I assisted him a little bit, and that was probably stupid of me,” said Rondon, according to the document.

Mooney-Rondon and Rondon went to the Senate Gallery then left when they saw the insurrectionists overrun the building. They also admitted to being the people in the photos taken during the riots and shown to the FBI.

This development from the investigation surrounding the insurrection comes amidst Pelosi’s challenge to get a united Democratic caucus to vote on the two major bills that make up the bulk of US President Joe Biden’s agenda. Last week, touching on her legacy, Pelosi told reporters what the $3.5 trillion social infrastructure bill would mean to her career.

“I just told the members of my leadership the reconciliation bill will be the culmination of my service in Congress,” said the House Speaker during the weekly news conference. However, she shut down the notion that this term would be her last as the House Democratic leader.