Pelosi also urged members and staff who were receiving similar calls to change their phone numbers.
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A hacker by the name of Guccifer 2.0 released the emails and personal phone numbers of Democratic members on Friday, allegedly from a hack on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the fundraising and campaign wing of Democrats in the House.
“This is a sad course of events, not only for us, but more importantly for our country”, said Pelosi, who earlier in the week blamed Russian Federation for the cyber attack and called it an “electronic Watergate” akin to the 1972 burglary at Democratic Party headquarters that ultimately brought down Republican President Richard Nixon.
The hacking group “Guccifer 2.0” claimed responsibility for the breach, which took documents from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The information was posted on the Guccifer website and among the victims listed were House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer. The cyber attack was revealed last month on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.
Friday’s was the latest release of information from cyber-attacks – including those by groups with purported ties to Russian Federation – against Democratic organizations as the 2016 elections heat up.
“On a personal note, I was in the air flying from Florida to California when the news broke”, Pelosi wrote in the letter.
Ramsey, in a memo distributed by Pelosi, advised lawmakers to change passwords to all email accounts that they use and strongly consider changing non-House email addresses if possible.
A phone call is set to happen 6 p.m. on Saturday evening for members with the House sergeant-at-arms office, and cybersecurity experts who have been investigating the hack. Should lawmakers or staff receive any threats or observe suspicious activity, they should contact U.S. Capitol Police and local police, he said in the memo.
Pelosi said the hack of personal information was “a sad course of events” for her party but “more importantly for our country”.
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Friday’s information dump comes after the same hacker released emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that showed staffers actively supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton against her one-time rival, Bernie Sanders.
