I am confused. The store owner turned the laptop over to the FBI and waited to hear back. He never did, so he shopped it to the republicans where Rudy's lawyer responded. Rudy makes it sound like they had the laptop not just a copy or image of the laptop. Can someone explain to me what I am missing?

It sounds to me like the store owner turned over the physical laptop to the FBI but made snapshots or images of the hard drive where he gave his friends copy's for safety. He then contacted Rudy's lawyer who reviewed a copy of the laptop, Not the physical laptop.