Ex-private eye who spent 15 months in prison for allegedly trying to access Trump’s tax info speaks out

06 April 2023

Jordan Hamlett is the Louisiana-based tech worker and former private investigator who spent 15 months in federal prison for, prosecutors said, illegally using Donald Trump's Social Security number online in 2016 in an effort access his private tax information. When Hamlett pled guilty in 2018, he emphasized that he wasn't trying to hurt Trump or violate his privacy but rather, wanted to expose vulnerabilities in online security. Hamlett has maintained that he wanted to encourage cybersecurity in 2016, not undermine it.

In a federal courtroom in 2018, Hamlett said, "I was trying to help, and I made a bad decision. It was a mistake, and it was a bad mistake."

Hamlett was looking at up to five years in prison, but U.S. District Judge John deGravelles sentenced him to 18 months and gave him a $250,000 fine. DeGravelle was released after 15 months.

Hamlett discussed his case with Never Trump conservative and former GOP strategist Tim Miller during an interview for The Bulwark on Tuesday, April 4 — the day in which Trump was arraigned in New York City on 34 federal counts in connection with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr.'s investigation of alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Miller's article was published on April 6.

Miller believes that the U.S. Department of Justice's aggressive prosecution of Hamlett and the sentence that he received were a "miscarriage of justice" — and that Trump, with his 34-count indictment, has received the type of kid-gloves treatment that Hamlett didn’t enjoy.

"Jordan Hamlett knows how it feels to get railroaded," Miller writes. "To be targeted by a politicized indictment. To sit in a courtroom agonizing over how this could possibly be his life, when he was only trying to fix a problem. In other words: everything Donald Trump has claimed he's experienced, only for real. But like so many others who have suffered miscarriages of justice, Hamlett didn't have the tools that the former president has used to push back against the system."

The Never Trumper elaborates, "When Johnny Law came for Jordan Hamlett, the boys in blue didn't let him surrender on his own by way of a private jet. Or make exceptions to help him avoid a humiliating detainment. They didn't spare him the mug shot or the ankle bracelet. Or keep his house nice and tidy during their raid. Hamlett doesn't have his own social media network where he can live-bleat his grievances…. Hell, while he was under house arrest during pre-trial release, they didn't even let him keep his cell phone or laptop to contact the outside world."

Miller explains how Hamlett ended up on the DOJ's radar in 2016.

The former GOP strategist notes, "He had recently come across an IRS web tool on the government's FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) website that would make it easy to access other people's tax returns using only a handful of pieces of personal information. He had previously e-mailed the IRS to warn them that this system could be easily breached, but never got a reply…. On a whim, Hamlett decided he might get the attention of someone at the IRS by putting the presidential candidate's data into the widget to see what it spit out. He found Trump's Social Security number via googling — it had been leaked online previously thanks to the hacker group Anonymous and others — then he went to the FAFSA site, put in the candidate's name, date of birth, and SSN, and created an account tied to a new e-mail address."

Discussing his case with Miller, Hamlett recalled, "They flat-out said they want to make an example out of me. Everyone was scrambling to make an example out of me…. It was the most isolating experience of my life…. Friends or families would show me the articles, and it was infuriating because I couldn't explain my side of it. There was no way for me to talk about it. Meanwhile, half the world hated me. To this day, I still get messages about what a piece of s*** I am."

Hamlett, recalling his 15 months of incarceration, told Miller, "It was a laid-back prison, but it's still a prison. There were stabbings."

Hamlett vehemently disagrees with GOP claims that they are being unfairly targeted by prosecutors.

The former private investigator told Miller, "My resentment is towards the legal system as a whole. It's not used to target one side or the other, it's used to go after whoever they need…. So, I don't want to hear about Republicans being 'targeted.' Because believe me…. I know what it feels like."

Read Tim Miller’s full article for The Bulwark at this link.

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