Update: On Saturday afternoon, Maxine Waters said she is "utterly disgusted by the spread of the completely false, absurd, and dangerous lies and conspiracy theories that are being pedaled by ultra-right wing pundits, outlets, and websites who are promoting a fraudulent claim that a member of my staff was responsible for the release of the personal information of Members of the United States Senate on Wikipedia."
Waters also claimed that "the United States Capitol Police and our internal IT specialist have determined that the IP address in question does not belong to my office or anyone on my staff. The member of my staff – whose identity, personal information, and safety have been compromised as a result of these fraudulent and false allegations – was in no way responsible for the leak of this information. My office has alerted the appropriate authorities and law enforcement entities of these fraudulent claims."
So who did it then? Waters concludes by saying that she will "ensure that the perpetrators will be revealed, and that they will be held legally liable for all of their actions that are destructive and dangerous to any and all members of my staff."
Please read my statement on false allegations regarding the leak of the personal information of U.S. Senators: pic.twitter.com/YBEekR6jBB — Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) September 29, 2018
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The personal information of Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch was posted to Wikipedia Thursday during the hearing of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
The information, which included home addresses and phone numbers, was posted to the senators' respective Wikipedia pages where users are allowed to make edits - all of which are logged by Wikipedia and include the editor's IP address.
As a result of the information being made public, Sen. Hatch's wife "has been receiving calls nonstop ON HER BIRTHDAY and their home address was made public," according to Caleb Hull, director of content at the Republican technology firm Targeted Victory.
The IP address used to "doxx" the Senators was quickly traced back to the House of Representatives...
BREAKING: Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Orrin Hatch, and Mike Lee were targeted and doxxed with their home/office addresses and home/cell phones being published online on Wikipedia through an anonymous IP address associated with the House of Representatives. pic.twitter.com/G1GgCReA7E — Mike Tokes (@MikeTokes) September 27, 2018
UPDATE: Wikipedia has reverted the pages of the Republican Senators and the previous edits publishing their personal information appear to be removed from the public archive.
The two vandal IP's, belonging to the US House of Reps. have engaged in Doxxing + Vandalism previously. pic.twitter.com/hHn7Th0OkA — Mike Tokes (@MikeTokes) September 27, 2018
Upon further research, it appears that the IP address traces back to the office of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).
UPDATE: When searching for activity associated with the House of Representatives IP's used in the doxxing of Republican Senators, we find a posted comment from August 22, 2018 registered to Kathleen Sengstock, the Senior Legislative Assistant for Representative MAXINE WATERS. pic.twitter.com/6nRseFRt3W — Mike Tokes (@MikeTokes) September 29, 2018
(Archive of IP address tied to Waters staffer Kathleen Sengstock here)
If this is true—and Maxine Waters’ staffers doxxed several GOP Senators yesterday on Wikipedia—there should be hell to pay.
Waters has already called for direct action against GOP. — David Reaboi (@davereaboi) September 28, 2018
Waters has come under fire for advocating that her Democratic followers form into mobs and physically confront members of the Trump administration if they see them in public.
The Democratic Rep. - who doesn't live in the district she represents and paid her daughter $750,000 for Democratic fundraising activities - said to a crowd at a "Keep Families Together" rally on Saturday: "If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere."
Waters' call to action came amid protests at the homes of Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen's house, as well as White House aide Stephen Miller's apartment, which makes the doxxing of GOP Senators all the more significant - especially if it came from Waters' office.
White House spokesman Raj Shah wrote on Twitter that the leaked information was "outrageous."
This is outrageous. Please stop https://t.co/kkByAg49qs — Raj Shah (@RajShah45) September 27, 2018
