Last October a man named Jackson Cosko was caught posting the private information of five Republican Senators on Wikipedia. Cosko, who had previously worked for Sen. Maggie Hassan and was working as an intern for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee at the time, became angry over the GOP’s handling of the Kavanaugh confirmation and decided to lash out at the GOP Senators. Yesterday he received a four-year sentence for his crimes. From Politico:

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan said the sentence for Jackson Cosko, 27, was needed to send a signal that criminal harassment driven by political motives would be punished severely in an era marked by extreme political polarization.

“We have…a society that has become very vicious,” Hogan said. “It’s very concerning to the court and unfortunate that you played into that…

“It was a rather vicious offense,” Hogan said. “That was totally unjustified….We need to send a message out there. We need to have some deterrent and community understanding.”

Shortly before the sentence was handed down, Cosko stood at a courtroom lectern and apologized.

“I take full and complete responsibility for my actions,” he said. “I am embarrassed and ashamed for what I did.”

I’d say ‘vicious’ and ‘unjustified’ could sum up a lot of the left’s reaction to the Kavanaugh confirmation, not just this one case of doxing. The people who promoted the gang-rape allegations should also be embarrassed.

Fox News reports that a second staffer who worked in Sen. Hassan’s office is also facing charges for her involvement:

A second aide to New Hampshire Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan is facing federal charges stemming from a scheme to publicly post the personal information of several Republican politicians amid the contentious confirmation hearings for now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The aide, Samantha Deforest Davis, was a staff assistant in Hassan’s office from August 2017 until last December. She was fired after Capitol Police discovered her possible involvement in the so-called “doxing” effort.

Court documents accuse Davis of aiding 27-year-old Jackson A. Cosko, a former Hassan aide who has pleaded guilty to five federal offenses, including two counts of making public restricted personal information, and one count each of computer fraud, witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

Davis will reportedly plead guilty to two misdemeanors.