DC Man Charged With Posting Senators' Private Information on Wikipedia

Private addresses and phone numbers of three senators appeared on Wikipedia on the same day as the Kavanaugh hearing

A man from Washington, D.C., has been accused of posting multiple senators' private information on Wikipedia.

Jackson A. Cosko, 27, was arrested Wednesday and faces a slew of federal charges including making public restricted personal information, making threats in interstate commerce, unauthorized access of a government computer, identity theft and witness tampering, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office said. He also faces D.C. charges of second-degree burglary and unlawful entry.

Cosko appeared in court Thursday and a judge ordered that he remain detained pending a hearing on Oct. 9.

According to an affidavit, the U.S. Capitol Police began an investigation after someone edited the Wikipedia pages of three U.S. Senators to include restricted personal information including addresses and phone numbers without their knowledge or permission.

The edits appeared on Sept. 27 at about the same time as the highly publicized hearing on sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanugh, the attorney's office said.

Personal information then appeared on the Wikipedia pages of two more senators on Oct. 1, according to the affidavit.

A witness said they saw Cosko on Tuesday night at a computer in the office of a senator he once worked for and Cosko left the office after the witness confronted him, the affidavit said.

Cosko most recently worked for Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and he worked for Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., according to the LegiStorm congressional directory.

Cosko faces a maximum of 48 years and six months in prison if he is convicted of all charges against him.

It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.

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