Ex-Democratic staffer pleads guilty to five federal offenses after 'doxxing' Republican senators during Kavanaugh hearings

Elizabeth Preza
April 07, 2019

A former Democratic staffer on Friday pleaded guilty to five federal charges, including computer fraud and witness tampering, after posting the personal information of five Republican senators online, Fox News reports.

Jackson A. Cosko was a former unpaid intern for Rep. Sheila Jackson (D-TX); previously, he had worked as a computer systems administrator in Sen. Maggie Hassan’s (D-NH) office until May 2018, when he was fired "for failing to follow office procedures," according to Fox News. Court records show after the firing he “became angry and repeatedly burglarized the office without being detected."

In October, police began investigating after Cosko posted the home addresses and phone numbers of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), then-Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).

According to Fox News, Cosko sent the information after he grew “angry about the senators' support for Kavanaugh despite sexual assault allegations that President Trump's nominee was facing during the hearings.”

Cosko was arrested on Oct. 4, 2018. Two days later, senators voted 50-48 to confirm Kanvanaugh to the Supreme Court.

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