U.S. 5th District Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D-Missouri) says he has received “an avalanche of mean-spirited phone calls” following a cyberattack last week that made public his cell phone number and personal information. Cleaver said that he received calls from as far away as China and one from a KKK representative.
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
“Although I received a number of calls from N word sickos, my first caller was a very kind man from Raytown who told me how he got my number, and that he was available to provide information to investigators,” says Cleaver. “Thank God, my staff reacted quickly by contacting the Capitol and Kansas City Police. I was out of the city at a conference with babyish computer skills, but a CNN commentator, upon hearing about the hacking, asked for my phone and began taking steps to prevent further intrusion into my personal information.”
Cleaver has also changed his phone number and because his home address in Kansas City was also listed, law enforcement entities have taken steps to assist in his residential security.
The hacker, who used the monic Guccifer 2.0, also unloaded similar information on his website of nearly every Democratic Member of the House of Representatives, a number of Republicans and hundreds of Congressional staff members and campaign personnel.
In a conference call, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) warned her colleagues to take appropriate steps to protect themselves. She said that she had received “obscene and sick calls.”
The information was reportedly stolen during a hack of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The Capitol Hill Police and cybersecurity experts are investigating the attack.