FBI Arrests Hacker Connected to Katie Hill’s Campaign for Taking Down Primary Opponents’ Websites

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Feb 21, 2020

The FBI has arrested a California man connected to former Congresswoman Katie Hill for taking down the websites of two of her campaign opponents in 2018.

Arthur Dam was arrested Friday on charges of hacking into the websites of two Democrats who opposed Hill in the 2018 Democratic Primary for California’s 25th District. According to a criminal complaint regarding the arrest, Dam orchestrated a cyber attack on websites of two of Hill’s primary opponents, Jess Phoenix and Bryan Caforio. Both of their websites were disabled during a crucial moment of the primary, which Hill went on to win.

It was suspected during the primary that Hill was connected to the campaign website hacks, considering her own website was still intact. Dam’s connections to the former member of Congress- who was forced to resign from office in 2019 in light of a sex scandal surrounding her intimate affairs with a congressional staffer- appear to make that a likely possibility.

Dam is married to Hill’s former campaign fundraiser and district director in Congress, Kelsey O’Hara. In campaign finance records, Hill lists an in-kind campaign contribution for “graphic design and website security consultation.”

Some coincidences are merely just that. But it’s extremely hard to ignore Kate Hill’s “website security consultant” getting arrested for hacking into the campaign websites of her congressional primary opponents.

Hill has reinvented herself after her resignation from Congress as a result of the sex scandal, seemingly viewing herself as a victim.

Sexual involvement with subordinate employees is arguably a severe lapse of ethical judgement in any workplace. Perhaps one could forgive such poor decision-making, even if it’s made by a Member of Congress obligated to a higher standard.

But the lasting hacking arrest of Hill’s campaign security consultant make it likely that the former Democrat Congresswoman has more to answer for her own personal lapses in judgement.