Democrat Aide Who Doxxed Republicans During Kavanaugh Hearings Headed to Prison
“Prosecutors said Cosko had “self-righteous entitlement” and a “belief that he could violate the sanctity of the United States Senate at will”
Almost a year ago, we witnessed the weeks-long drama of hearings to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. While progressive outrage theater transpired on the streets of DC and Democrats in the chamber made fools out of themselves, a very serious crime unfolded behind the scenes.
A Democrat aide named Jackson Cosko, who was angry about Kavanaugh, stole private information about Republican senators and made it public. Now he is going to jail.
Cosko is from a family of means, and his parents did what they could for him, offering to pay for his stay at a mental health facility, but the prosecutors in the case were intent on sending a message.
Josh Gerstein reports at Politico:
Ex-Hassan aide sentenced to 4 years for doxing senators
A former aide to Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday for hacking Senate computers and releasing personal information online about five Republican senators out of anger spurred by their roles in the confirmation hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan said the sentence for Jackson Cosko, 27, was needed to send a signal that criminal harassment driven by political motives would be punished severely in an era marked by extreme political polarization…
In April, Cosko pleaded guilty to five felonies, admitting that after being fired last year from his work as a systems administrator on Hassan’s staff, he repeatedly used a colleague’s key to enter the office, install keylogging equipment that stole work and personal email passwords, and downloaded a massive trove of data from Senate systems.
Cosko also acknowledged that after growing angry about the GOP’s handling of the Supreme Court nomination, he released home addresses and phone numbers of Sens. Lindsry Graham, Orrin Hatch, and Mike Lee on Wikipedia. After initial press coverage of that doxing, Cosko released information about Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul.
This short video from One America News Network in March will give you more background on the case:
Luke Rosiak of the Daily Caller has written a very detailed report on Cosko and how this all unfolded. It reads in many ways like a modern Watergate:
New details emerged in their sentencing memo that made the case of Cosko — the Bernie Sanders-supporting son of a millionaire San Francisco developer with ties to California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — even more shocking.
A second Hassan staffer who was friends with Cosko served as his accomplice in exchange for rent money helped him physically break into the office at night and pilfer internal emails even after he was fired, prosecutors’ sentencing memo shows…
Even after Cosko was arrested and a computer was quarantined, Capitol Police and Senate employees did not realize that keylogger devices were plugged in to many of the office’s computers, according to prosecutors. The devices continued to beam every keystroke — including passwords to personal and business accounts — over a WiFi signal that could be accessed from the public hallway.
Prosecutors said Cosko had “self-righteous entitlement” and a “belief that he could violate the sanctity of the United States Senate at will and threaten individual Senators as he pleased.”
There’s much more than I can quote here. Read the whole thing.
It’s amazing how many times in recent years we’ve seen people embedded in government jobs and culture, think they were justified in using their knowledge to break the law in order to sabotage Trump and Republicans.
Cosko is also very lucky to have received such a light sentence. According to a report from the Washington Examiner last fall, he was initially facing a sentence of up to 50 years.
Featured image via YouTube.
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Comments
why didn’t this ass get a 20+ year sentence?
found guilty of illegal doxing and pleading guilty to five other felonies?
what the fuck is going on here
He used the Hillary defense: No “intent”. I’m surprised he didn’t get probation and a spanking from his mommy.
The usual is what’s gping on. Even I, a soft hearted Canadian, thinks that a minimum of 10 years is appropriate.
Now do the Pakistani “staff” to the DNC and Debbie Blabbermouth Schultz.
**crickets**
Prosecutors said Cosko had “self-righteous entitlement” and a “belief that he could violate the sanctity of the United States Senate at will and threaten individual Senators as he pleased.”
Is that not an application of the “By any means necessary” rationalization?
Yes, and it’s consistent with Leftist ethics, which is that the ends justify the means.
With a pretty-boy face like that, I predict he’ll be walking funny when he gets out.
That’s what needed …. a bigger hole for the a-hole!
4 years.
think about that.
if any of us ONLY broke into a senators office we would get at least that.
this guy does it, installs keyloggers (hell of a thing right there if senators on committees) and then publishes private info on them to wikipedia.
4 years.
no wonder trump won.
With some luck, he goes to a standard facility, not a good-time house like Allanwood, or however it is spelled. Then, some chown-line or rec-hall “event” might be arranged.
Even if they do send him to a Club Fed “campus” he will be with some hard core criminals. But, those criminals have been moved down from a medium security prison to more easy-going facility because of good behavior and prepare them for release in a year or so. They are quit capable of beating that smirk off this guy’s face but they won’t because that will just screw things up for them. Back to medium security for them. Wave bye bye to getting released.
But no matter. How much do want to bet that self-righteous entitled leftist Richie Rich Pajama Boy who is going to prison because he doesn’t think the rules apply to him, will continue to think the rules don’t apply to him once he gets there. And that he’s way, way smarter then the “Neanderthals” running the place.
You know, the guards who have seen idiots like this throughout their careers? I bet he violates himself into enough demerits to get “upgraded” into a more serious situation where that “incident” can be arranged with some guy doing 25 to life or just straight life and doesn’t give a rat’s @$$ what the system will do to him anymore.
Apparently due to evil electrons the part of my comment where I said I don’t believe he’ll qualify for minimum security got eliminated. Not with five felony convictions. There are guidelines on this but I haven’t seen them since one of my friends and his wife, a federal probation/parole officer, got divorced.
Yes, and he can also consider himself fortunate that unlike the D’Rats, the Republicans don’t dispense the Seth Rich treatment.
“But, but, all of the other kids are doing it……”
He looks like he will do well there. Very popular, might even get elected…strike that, I meant selected.
Elected? Bet he gets engaged first.
Average Washingtonian Democrat. Since he aimed to hurt non-Democrats he was not destined to have a chit-chat with Seth Rich. Such a sweet boy.
Sayonara, pencil neck.
Pencil Neck Geek
Classic Classy…..!
Cosko is also very lucky to have received such a light sentence.
WR Mike, I doubt luck had anything to do with this..
Even after Cosko was arrested and a computer was quarantined, Capitol Police and Senate employees did not realize that keylogger devices were plugged in to many of the office’s computers
Negligence bordering on the criminal. Of course there are keyloggers! Just for starters. Idiots.
If, of course, the news of this incompetence is accurate, which it probably isn’t.
Peter Q. Richkid abuses his position of public trust and gets away with a short sentence. I suppose we have learned a little something from the careen of Bill Ayers, because this one at least drew a felony-level sentence, even if it was too light.
Looks like Pajama Boy. I hope he enjoys gay sex.
He’ll learn to like it
He goes into prison an obnoxious, malignant, fascist. He will come out as an obnoxious, malignant, fascist, though with a larger rectum.
After reading the Daily Caller article to get the full scope of Cosko’s offenses, I am appalled that this repeat offender (he was hired with a criminal record!) is getting off with such a light sentence. I hope he ends up in a medium security prison and not some Club Fed so he at least experiences a modicum of suffering during his short stint. I hope his accomplice spends some time in prison as well.
Another takeaway from the DC article: apparently reforms were proposed to increase oversight and enhance the security of the Congressional IT systems to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again, which were objected to / rejected by Congress: what’s up with that?