A hacker accessed damaging testimony regarding sexual misconduct allegations against former Rep. Matt Gaetz.
A person with knowledge of the breach told the New York Times that a user, going by the name of “Altam Beezley,” accessed 24 exhibits related to the allegations on Monday, including testimony from a woman who claimed she had sex with Gaetz when she was 17. The exhibits were taken from a secure computer file held by the lawyers of the woman who testified, as well as another woman who gave corroborating testimony. Some of the information obtained is under seal by the Justice Department.
As of writing, none of the files were leaked to the public.
The lawyer who discovered the breach said in an email obtained by the Washington Post that the email address associated with Beezley couldn’t be reached.
“I have not been able to identify the person who downloaded the files, but I have contacted the email address provided, asking the person to identify him or herself, instructing that their access is not authorized, and telling them that they should destroy the materials they downloaded,” they wrote. “My email was returned because the email address was not found.”
The documents were part of a civil suit filed by Gaetz ally Christopher Dorworth, who said that the woman who said she had sex with Gaetz as a minor and convicted sex trafficker Joel Greenberg defamed him with their claims. Attorneys for Greenberg prepared the exhibits hacked on Monday in response.
The Department of Justice had launched an investigation into Gaetz but declined to file charges against him after finding insufficient evidence.
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Gaetz is now looking to run the DOJ, having won Trump’s nomination for the position of attorney general. The leaking of the files could damage his chances of obtaining enough Senate votes for approval.
The House Ethics Committee launched its own investigation into Gaetz and was due to release its report until Gaetz resigned his seat. Members of the committee are set to meet Wednesday to decide whether to release the report — something House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is against.