Dem aide charged with doxxing Republicans during Kavanaugh nomination sentenced

A former aide to U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan has been sentenced for her role in leaking the private information of Republican senators who supported Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination.

Samantha Deforest Davis is the second former assistant to the New Hampshire Democrat who was sentenced after the so-called “doxxing” scheme was discovered. It also led to her reportedly being fired last December.

(Video: WMUR-TV)

The 24-year-old former aide was ordered to “stay away from [Hassan’s] office to include current and former staff, and to not use Tor or anonymized computer applications,” according to the Justice Department. She was sentenced to two years’ probation and 200 hours of community service after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting computer fraud and attempted tampering with evidence, WMUR-TV reported.

A staff assistant in Hassan’s office from August 2017, Davis was fired after Capitol Police found that she had been involved in helping 27-year-old Jackson Cosko, another Hassan staffer who was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to five federal offenses, including computer fraud, witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

Second Dem staffer charged for scheme to leak private info of GOP senators during Kavanaugh hearing https://t.co/ZkyOq5EVzE

— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) June 20, 2019

According to prosecutors, Davis had helped Cosko break into the senator’s office to hack the computers and steal information. He used a key belonging to Davis to enter the office and install undetected spy devices on the Senate network that stole work and personal email passwords as well as other data. Davis also agreed to “wipe down” computers in the office to erase traces of Cosko’s fingerprints.

The home addresses and phone numbers of five Republican senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, were then illegally posted on Wikipedia.

Cosko was working as an unpaid intern for Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee at the time of his arrest, after having worked as computer systems administrator in Hassan’s office.

Prosecutors noted that Cosko “continued to be angry about his termination for months” and took “advantage of his in-depth knowledge of the office’s computer security measures and practices, engaged in an extensive computer fraud and data theft scheme that he carried out by repeatedly burglarizing Senator Hassan’s Office.”

He made another attempt to get back to Hassan’s office in October when he asked Deforest-Davis for her key again, but fled when he was caught by one of the senator’s employees, according to prosecutors. He then allegedly emailed Deforest-Davis, saying: “If you tell anyone I will leak it all. Emails signal conversations gmails. Senators children’s health information and socials.”

Hassan’s office issued a statement following Davis’ sentencing.

“Senator Hassan appreciates the work of Capitol Police and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in pursuing justice for the crimes committed against our office and others,” the statement said.

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