Democrats where the rules don't matter

EXCLUSIVE: SECOND HASSAN STAFFER ALLEGEDLY HELPED AIDE STEAL MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF SENATE DATA

• A former Senate IT aide to Sen. Maggie Hassan, Jackson Cosko, admitted he stole tens of thousands of documents, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers and the contents of the entire network drive from the New Hampshire Democrat.
• Cosko allegedly used stolen private data about senators to “doxx” Republicans during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings.
• In a plea deal, Cosko — whom Hassan fired for other misconduct before the theft — said he worked with an accomplice who helped him gain access and wiped his fingerprints.
• A court case has been opened against Samantha DeForest-Davis, a former Hassan aide who a source with knowledge of the situation said is the alleged accomplice.

A second former aide to Sen. Maggie Hassan is implicated in former IT staffer Jackson Cosko’s massive data-theft scheme that was ultimately used to “intimidate” Republican senators by “doxxing” them during a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, prosecutors said.

Samantha G. DeForest-Davis, at the time a staff assistant to Hassan, was the aide who allegedly helped Cosko conduct his scheme, a source with knowledge of the situation told The Daily Caller News Foundation. Court records show a case naming her has been opened, and the source confirmed it relates to her alleged role in the data theft.

She filed an affidavit that can be used to assess her eligibility for a public defender, but she has not been charged with any crimes, court records show.

Cosko pleaded guilty April 5 to masterminding what prosecutors said was “an extraordinarily extensive data-theft scheme, copying entire network drives, sorting and organizing sensitive data, and exploring ways to use that data to his benefit.” He admitted to stealing tens of thousands of documents and emails from Hassan’s office, in addition to credit card information and Social Security numbers belonging to Senate employees.

The data also included a master list of senators’ private information that Cosko posted to Wikipedia out of “anger” at Republicans during the Supreme Court nomination hearings, prosecutors said.

Cosko’s lawyer said drugs contributed to his admitted crimes. But a statement of facts prosecutors filed as part of Cosko’s plea agreement describes an elaborate, months-long scheme involving two people.

The data was stolen from Hassan’s office in months of late-night burglaries between July and October 2018 after Cosko was fired that May for different misconduct that Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat, has declined to explain, according to the statement.

DeForest-Davis — identified in court documents only as SUBJECT A — allegedly repeatedly provided Cosko a key that he used to enter the office at night and install tiny devices that capture every keystroke, including passwords that were then used to access further materials, according to the statement. After Cosko was caught in the act by a Hassan staffer in October 2018, the accomplice went to the office and wiped down keyboards and mice to erase any fingerprints, prosecutors said.

On Jan. 24, prosecutors said “the defendant is cooperating,” though they noted “the government isn’t convinced that he is fully cooperative.” Six days earlier, a case called USA vs. DeForest-Davis was opened in D.C. federal court.

Cosko was released on bail the next month










.9:57 PM 04/09/2019 | INVESTIGATIVE GROUPcontinue