“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.
Advertisement
The most recent leak includes Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) files including a spreadsheet with the phone numbers and email addresses of congressional contacts, as well as a slew of internal memos. The cyber attack was revealed last month on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.
Pelosi noted that the hack has been widely reported as part of a Russian cyber attack, although Obama administration officials have not officially attributed it to the Russians. That’s raised questions about whether the Russians are trying to influence the U.S. presidential election.
Congress Campaign Press secretary, Meredith Kelly said in a statement that the DCCC has always been a target of cyber security attacks by hackers and they are cooperating with Federal investigators on the way forward to curbing such occurrence next time.
Trump has rejected the allegation, insisting Democrats were trying to “deflect the horror and stupidity” of the leak.
Guccifer 2.0, a known hacker, obtained the information after a cyberattack on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
American officials have said the hack is likely the work of Russian intelligence services. The registrant for the fake DCCC site was linked back to other web domains used by “Fancy Bear”.
“I have received scores of mostly obscene and sick calls, voicemails and text messages”, Pelosi wrote in a letter to party members. The chief administrative officer of the House has also sent an email stating that the House computer system has not been compromised, but urged members and staff to be vigilant about opening emails and websites.
Advertisement
He advised aides and lawmakers to change their passwords on all accounts and possibly open new email accounts. She said that the Capitol Police and the Sergeant-at-Arms are conducting an ongoing threat assessment.
