A man who allegedly doxxed Republican Senators on Wikipedia was arrested by United States Capitol Police late Wednesday, Oct. 3.
Private information about the Senators, including their home addresses, was posted on their biography pages on Wikipedia, shortly after the Sept. 27 public hearing that featured Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and California professor Dr. Christine Ford.
The Capitol Police identified the suspect as Jackson Cosko, 27, and said he was charged with making public restricted personal information, witness tampering, threats in interstate communications, unauthorized access of a government computer, identity theft, second-degree burglary, and unlawful entry.
The police said the investigation will continue and more charges may be forthcoming.
Clean cut all-american young man –Jackson Cosko – GW University grad — who no doubt thought his SysAdmin skills would make it impossible for the Capitol Hill Police to identify him. This photo is from his LinkedIn profile pic.twitter.com/BmXl1N3Kdf
— Christopher Burgess (@burgessct) October 4, 2018
“It’s unfortunate,” said Glenn Rushing, Jackson Lee’s Chief of Staff when contacted about the arrest of Jackson Cosko, accused of doxing GOP Sens Graham, Lee & Hatch…all mbrs of Judiciary Cmte. Rushing added that the office is “cooperating with law enforcement” in the probe.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) October 3, 2018
Links to Democrats
Cosko has worked for a number of Democrats, including most recently Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas).
Glenn Rushing, Jackson Lee’s chief of staff, told the Washington Examiner that Cosko was on Lee’s staff at the time of the arrest but has been fired.
“It is an ongoing investigation and we are cooperating with authorities,” he said.
Cosko has previously worked for Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), former Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).
According to his LinkedIn, which describes him as a “Democratic political professional and cybersecurity graduate student,” Cosko first interned for Senators in 2011, before interning for Congress in 2012 into 2013. He began his current term of work for the Senate in January 2016, listing his positions as press intern, staff assistant, press assistant, and legislative correspondent.
According to his latest job title, he assisted senior staff with issues before the Commerce Committee including technology and also assisted with cybersecurity matters brought before the Homeland Security Committee.
BREAKING: Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Orrin Hatch, and Mike Lee were targeted and doxxed with their home/office addresses and home/cell phones being published online on Wikipedia through an anonymous IP address associated with the House of Representatives. pic.twitter.com/G1GgCReA7E
— Mike Tokes (@MikeTokes) September 27, 2018
Wikipedia Edits
Republican Senators were doxxed on Sept. 27, with information posted including their home addresses and phone numbers. The information was later removed.
The three doxxed officials were Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and Mike Lee (R-Utah), reported Fox News.
All three Senators serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is the committee handling the nomination of Kavanaugh.
The edits were identified by a Twitter account that automatically posts edits made to Wikipedia pages from computers on Capitol Hill.
Capitol Hill Police are probing doxxing incidents involving at least two additional Senators, reported Fox News on Oct. 3. One of those Senators doxxed was Sen. Rand Paul (K.Y.).
