Dem Insider Pleads Guilty to Five Federal Crimes

A former Democratic staffer on Capitol Hill pled guilty to five federal offenses for posting the sensitive personal information of five Republican senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

Fox News’ Stephen Sorace reports:
 

The charges against Jackson A. Cosko, 27, include making public restricted personal information, computer fraud, witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

In addition to McConnell’s information, Cosko posted the home addresses and phone numbers of GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky — as well as then-Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.

Cosko reportedly became angry about the senators’ support for Kavanaugh despite sexual assault allegations that President Trump’s nominee was facing during the hearings. Cosko intended to intimidate the senators and their families, according to court records. Kavanaugh’s nomination was ultimately confirmed.

At the time of his arrest, Cosko was working as an unpaid intern for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, who fired him soon after. He was previously employed as a computer systems administrator in the office of Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., a job that gave him “intimate knowledge of, and broad access to” the computer systems in Hasan’s office, according to court records. But he had been fired from Hassan’s office in May 2018 for failing to follow office procedures.

After Hassan’s aides fired Cosko, he burglarized the Senator’s office repeatedly – until October 2, 2018, when a staffer caught him working on a computer in the legislative shop.

Authorities arrested him the following day after Cosko sent a threatening email to the staffer that confronted him.

Cosko previous worked for Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.