Hacker posts personal info of House Democrats and staff

WASHINGTON – After receiving a deluge of obscene voicemails and text messages, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi informed her fellow Democrats on Saturday of “an electronic Watergate break-in” and warned them not to allow family members to answer their phones or read incoming texts.

The breach targeted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and other Democratic Party entities, Pelosi said in a statement. As a result, a mix of personal and official information of Democratic members and hundreds of congressional staff, purportedly from a hack of the DCCC, was posted online, she said.

Pelosi said she is changing her phone number and advised her colleagues to do the same.

A hacker who calls himself Guccifer 2.0 took credit for posting the information Friday night. He had claimed responsibility for the recent hack of Democratic National Committee emails. While Guccifer 2.0 has described himself as a Romanian hacker and denies working for Russia, online investigators assert he is linked to Russia.

The FBI, which is investigating, hasn’t publicly attributed the attack to Russia.

Pelosi said Saturday she was flying from Florida to California when she heard about the posting of information.

“Upon landing, I have received scores of mostly obscene and sick calls, voicemails and text messages,” Pelosi said.

Pelosi said the chief information security officer of the House, John Ramsey, in coordination with U.S. Capitol Police, has sent communications to those people whose email addresses have been made public about how to address the problem.