Sen. Jeff Merkley says Capitol building rioters made off with laptop
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 6: In this screenshot taken from a congress.gov webcast, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) speaks during a Senate debate session to ratify the 2020 presidential election at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress has reconvened to ratify President-elect Joe Biden’s 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump, hours after a pro-Trump mob broke into the U.S. Capitol and disrupted proceedings. (Photo by congress.gov via Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley said that pro-Trump demonstrators who invaded the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday also ransacked his office and stole a laptop.
In a video posted to Twitter late on Wednesday, the Democratic senator from Oregon showed how the protesters left his office full of debris, disordered cabinets, strewn files, and a cigarette butt.
“They stole the laptop that was sitting on the table,” he said at one point, as his camera panned over an empty desk.
Merkley’s office did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Thursday about the incident or what was in the laptop.
Concerns over the digital integrity of information kept by lawmakers at the Capitol have been mounting as law enforcement weighs the damage from the riot, which happened after outgoing President Donald Trump told supporters gathered in Washington he would “never concede” the election he lost to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.
