The US Capitol Police arrested a former Democratic staffer for allegedly “doxing” — a form of publishing private identifying information online — lawmakers during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week.
According to a statement by the Capitol Police, 27-year-old Jackson Cosko of Washington has been charged with making restricted personal information public, making threats in interstate commerce, unauthorized access of a government computer, identity theft and obstruction of justice/witness tampering, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
He’s also facing charges of second-degree burglary and unlawful entry for incidents in Washington.
“Earlier today, the United States Capitol Police (USCP) arrested the Suspect who allegedly posted private, identifying information (doxing) about one or more United States Senators to the internet,” said Eva Malecki, communications director for Capitol Police, in a statement.
Last week, a Twitter bot that tweets out edits to Wikipedia pages allegedly made by devices with Capitol Hill internet connection, called @congressedits, picked up and tweeted out lawmakers’ personal information when it was added to Wikipedia pages. The account is currently suspended.
“The investigation will continue and additional charges may be forthcoming,” the statement said.
According to a statement from Bill Miller, a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Cosko is in police custody and is expected to appear before Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson on Thursday in the US District Court for DC.