United States

Former Senate Staffer Pleads Guilty for ‘Doxxing' 5 Senators

A former Senate staffer pleaded guilty to five federal charges after being accused of stealing information from five Senate offices and posting personal details on Wikipedia, law enforcement officials said.

Jackson A. Cosko, 27, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty Friday to charges of computer fraud, witness tampering, obstruction of justice and sharing restricted private information.

He could face a prison term ranging from 30 to 57 months, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said Friday.

According to officials, the U.S. Capitol Police began an investigation in September 2018 after Wikipedia pages of three U.S. senators were discovered to have personal information post without consent, including home addresses and personal telephone numbers.

The postings occurred about the same time that the tense Senate confirmation battle for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was underway.

Similar information was posted for two more senators on Oct. 1.

According to The Washington, Post, Cosko was caught sneaking into the offices of Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and "using an aide's computer and log-in."

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The Post reported that the first three senators to be "doxxed" were Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

According to the U.S. Attorney's office, a witness saw Cosko sneak into Hassan's office on the night of Oct. 2, 2018 and confronted him, prompting Cosko to leave but later send a "threatening" message to the witness, saying "If you tell anyone I will leak it all."

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