House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi later told colleagues she had received “obscene and sick calls” after her phone number was leaked.
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A hacker posted cellphone numbers and other personal information of almost 200 current and former congressional Democrats on Friday, the latest public disclosure of sensitive records this election season. “Upon landing, I have received scores of mostly obscene and sick calls, voicemails and text messages”, she said in a message to fellow Democrats in Congress.
Pelosi said she is changing her phone number and advised her colleagues to do the same.
This latest leak follows an incident in July, in which Guccifer leaked 19,000 emails from Democratic National Committee members and also took responsibility for releasing a treasure trove of documents about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Experts with FireEye Inc., a cybersecurity company, have said they believe Guccifer 2.0 is a cover identify for Russian hackers. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has vowed a steady release of additional information about Clinton from the hacks of Democratic Party servers.
Pelosi said the chief information security officer of the House, John Ramsey, in coordination with U.S. Capitol Police, has sent communications to those people whose email addresses have been made public about how to address the problem. Meanwhile, Republicans could feel a backlash, given the Russian connection and recent comments GOP nominee Donald Trump has made praising Russian President Vladimir Putin and suggesting that the US should “get along with Russia”.
The potential Russian involvement in the cyber attack has ignited a fierce campaign debate, with Democrats accusing the Russians of trying to aid Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. That same hacking group, known as “Fancy Bear”, was previously connected to the cyber breach at the Democratic National Committee. That led to DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s resignation, along with other top staffers.
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Ramsay also suggested House Democrats change passwords to all of their email accounts and “strongly consider” changing their non-House email addresses, as well.
