A Democratic staffer accused of publishing confidential information of three Republican Senators allegedly threatened to leak the lawmaker’s children’s personal information.
Per Fox News:
Jackson Cosko, who recently worked for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, was arrested for allegedly posting the personal information (or “doxxing“) of a number of senators including Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah on Wikipedia — with information such as their home addresses and phone numbers. Graham, Lee and Hatch’s information was published on Thursday.
According to a sworn statement by Capitol Police Captain Jason Bell, a witness Tuesday saw Cosko at a computer in a senator’s office, where he used to work, a day after two other unnamed senators’ information had been put on Wikipedia. Cosko worked for other Democratic senators including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and former Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. While earlier reports identified Cosko as an intern for Jackson Lee, his lawyer said that he was working as a fellow in her office, paid by an outside institution.
Sources familiar with the casetell Fox News Cosko was in Sen. Hassan’s office, where he was not authorized to be and was caught using a login he was not authorized to use. Cosko earlier was let go by Senator Hassan’s office. A spokesman for Hassan says she “strongly denounces the alleged actions.”
According to Bell’s statement, Cosko is alleged to have been confronted by the staffer and then walked out. The staffer then called police. Hours later the witness received an email from “[email protected]” saying: “If you tell anyone I will leak it all. Emails signal conversations gmails. Senators children’s health information and socials.”
Cosko stands charged with “publishing restricted personal information, threats in interstate communication, unauthorized access of a government computer, identity theft, witness tampering, second-degree burglary, and unlawful entry.”
The 27-year-old appeared nervous in court as the judge explained the charges against him, which carry the possibility of over 20 years in prison.
AAN Staff
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