Search warrant reveals why the FBI raided an Alaska couple’s home

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Newly unsealed court records show why Joint Terrorism Task Force investigators and a judge believed there was probable cause to search the premises of Paul and Marilyn Hueper in Homer in late April. The couple, who own the Homer Inn and Spa, attended the Jan. 6 rally at the nation’s Capitol.

The Huepers have said they did nothing wrong.

In an interview last week, the Huepers told Alaska’s News Source the FBI mistook Marilyn Hueper for a woman who’d entered the Capitol that day, and that during the search, agents said they were looking for Nancy Pelosi’s laptop.

An affidavit filed in support of the search warrant states that on February 24, the FBI received a tip about the Huepers. The witness, who is not identified, told the FBI that Marilyn Hueper looked like a woman in tip line photos 225 A and 225 B the FBI had posted on its website. The FBI posted the photos in hopes the public could help locate individuals sought in connection with the Jan. 6 riots.

The witness, named only as “witness 1″ in the affidavit, provided a copy of an Instagram post made by Paul Hueper, which appears to show Marilyn approaching the capitol steps wearing the same coat and purse as the woman sought by the FBI. That sought-after woman is seen in various images and video inside the capitol, including images showing her disconnecting the cords from Nancy Pelosi’s laptop and giving her gloves to an unidentified man to then remove the laptop.

The search warrant cites several federal crimes it believed may have been committed, including trespassing on Capitol grounds in restricted areas.

In applying for a search warrant, the FBI said it had “confirmed the woman in photograph’s (sic) 225 A and B was MARILYN HUEPER by comparing MARILYN HUEPER’s Driver License photograph.”

The FBI also said a second witness who knows Marilyn Hueper came forward on March 23 and confirmed Hueper as the woman in the photographs.

The Huepers say it’s a case of mistaken identity.

“You can visibly see with the photo that I’m the wrong person,” Marilyn Hueper said in a phone interview last week.

She said the agents seized computers, phones and a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Marilyn Hueper said when she asked the FBI if they would admit she’s not who they are seeking, they told her “We’ll see if the information on your electronics supports what you’re saying. If it does, you don’t have anything to worry about.”

The search warrant allowed the FBI to search for electronics, clothing worn by the woman seen in the images they’d gathered from Jan. 6, Nancy Pelosi’s laptop and any other property stolen from the Capitol.

In an interview April 30, the Huepers told Alaska’s News Source they never entered the Capitol building and did not remove any items from the Capitol.

With the search over and the search warrant now public, the FBI declined to comment Wednesday on whether the agency stood by its identification of Marilyn Hueper as the same woman in the images on their website. Those images remain published on the FBI’s most wanted pages under the section on capitol violence.

In applying for the search warrant, the FBI successfully convinced the judge to seal — or keep secret — the warrant at the time “because the items and information to be seized are relevant to an ongoing undercover investigation and not all targets of the investigation will be searched at this time,” according to the court filing.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with additional information.