The former Democratic staffer who was accused of leaking documents containing private information is being held without bail pending a trial.
According to Fox News, federal prosecutors say 27-year-old Jackson Cosko used his work login to post private information about Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, from a computer in a House of Representative’s office during the Sept. 27 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Cosko was working as a staffer for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas. He had previously worked with Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and former Sen. Barbara Boxer of California. He also worked or interned with the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Cosko was arrested Oct. 3, one day after a staffer discovered him working on a computer in Hassan’s Capitol Hill office, where Cosko was not authorized to be. According to a Capitol Police officer’s affidavit, Cosko threatened the staffer who confronted him in an email message in which he threatened to leak emails, information about the health of senators’ children and their Social Security numbers.
As Reported By Washington Examiner:
The affidavit reveals that police traced the postings to IP addresses belonging to the House wired network and then determined that the computer was accessed with Cocko’s user ID and password. Other edits were done by devices using the House and Senate guest wireless networks.
According to police, Cosko tried to threaten the Hassan staffer who recognized him when he broke into the lawmaker’s office on Tuesday night.
An email message to the witness was titled “I own EVERYTHING” and said, ““If you tell anyone I will leak it all. Emails signal conversations Gmail. Senators children’s health information and socials.”
The maximum prison time total for the five federal offenses is 33 years, with the Washington offenses carrying a maximum of 15 years for second-degree burglary and another six months for unlawful entry.