Photo: Facebook
“Doxxing” is essentially blackmail.
By Leah Scher — Written on Jun 23, 2019
Samantha DeForest-Davis is a former aide to Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan. Allegedly, she was involved in a doxxing scheme against Republican senators who supported Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. She’s accused of two misdemeanors: aiding a computer fraud and tampering with evidence.
What else is there to know? Who is Samantha DeForest-Davis?
1. The charges arose as a result of the sentencing of another former aide, Jackson Cosko.
Cosko, who calls himself a “Democratic Political Professional” with cybersecurity expertise, was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in the scheme: hacking Senate computers and releasing personal information online about the GOP senators. He admitted to releasing the home addresses and phone numbers of Senators Lindsey Graham, Orrin Hatch, and Mike Lee on Wikipedia out of anger at their handling of the Supreme Court nomination of Kavanaugh. After initial press coverage of that doxing incident, Cosko then released information about Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Rand Paul as well.
2. He released the home addresses of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home in Kentucky and Washington D.C. on his public Wikipedia page.
According to Roll Call, it was literally during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing involving Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford that he released this personal information from what appeared to be an IP address connected to the Capitol. The information was then sent to thousands of people through an automated Twitter account that tracks Wikipedia account changes from Congress.
3. DeForest-Davis’ contribution was loaning Cosko her office key.
After Cosko was fired in April from his job as a systems administrator on Hassan’s staff and then pleaded guilty to the five felonies, he admitted to repeatedly using his 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. Supposedly, DeForest-Davis’ also agreed to “wipe down” computers to “erase traces of Cosko’s fingerprints,” according to Politico. The news source also reports that DeForest-Davis and Cosko had a “close relationship,” and she had borrowed money from him for rent in the past.
4. She’s starting over as a teacher in Milwaukee.
This month, she posted on her Facebook page, about a new teaching job in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According to the caption, she’ll be teaching middle school English Language Arts in Milwaukee starting this fall. She honestly seems genuinely excited to meet her students! She’s even helping raise money to help purchase school supplies so she can welcome her students to a clean and fully stocked classroom. She’s even throwing in a personalized gift for everyone who donates!
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Leah Scher is an ENFP finishing her degree at Brandeis University. She's an alumna of the Kenyon Review Young Writer's Workshop the Iowa Young Writers' Studio. She's passionate about Judaism, poetry, film, satire, astrology, spirituality, and sexual health. She draws inspiration for her writing from writer/director Wes Anderson, and for her lifestyle from her grandmother. Lastly, she's always actively seeking two things: a job having anything at all to do with publishing, and a chance to meet Jesse Eisenberg.