An anonymous entity released what it says is personal contact information for 22 Republican senators, encouraging a flood of calls to the lawmakers to demand opposition to racism and President Trump.
But some of the phone numbers appear to be incorrect.
“I don’t know what idiot posted this number on that website,” said Stuart Crismore, a Montana resident who says he’s received about a dozen calls and some text messages since his number was identified as belonging to Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado.
An entity calling itself Anon Journal proclaimed the “Great Senate Dox of 2017” in posting the phone numbers and many email addresses Thursday to the website Hastebin. It’s unclear how the list was assembled, but at least some information was accurate.
The group urges callers to advocate censure or impeachment of Trump in response to his statements on Charlottesville, Va., clashes between white supremacists and anti-racism activists.
“This action was done for the sole purpose of giving the American Citizen a chance to voice their anger directly at a Congress which sits idly by as the President of the United States continues to support White Supremacists openly and shamelessly,” a statement said.
The Washington Examiner dialed each phone number on the list. Many were no longer in service, perhaps in response to the posting. Two were Senate offices. Three voicemail messages indicated the number belonged to a senator or their family.
But Crismore wasn’t alone in claiming to have been listed in error.
“You must have hit the wrong number, fella,” said a woman who answered a number listed for Sen. John Hoeven. “Senator from North Dakota? You’ve got Burkesville, Pennsylvania.”
The woman said she was unaware that her number was posted online. “Nobody has ever said ‘the senator’ before [but] I’ve got some nuisance calls,” she said, adding she has had the number “quite a long time.”
It’s unclear why some numbers appear to be inaccurate. A message sent to the YouTube account of Anon Journal, which identifies with the Anonymous hacktivist movement, was not immediately returned.
To be sure, some numbers were accurate, or at least close.
“I happen to be a senator’s spouse. You got the number from Anon?” said a woman who answered one number.
“I’ve been getting calls and ugly texts. For some reason they got my number and not my husband’s,” she said, requesting not to be identified.
The spouse said she had received “about 10” calls and that she had saved one particularly unpleasant text message to show the U.S. Capitol Police. “It’s not a threat, it’s just really ugly,” she said. “Discourse is good, but not ugly discourse.”
Despite significant press attention, the suggestion to mass-harass senators appears to have found few takers.
A woman who answered the phone at the home of one of Idaho’s senators, who was not in town, said “I didn’t know about the phone number release” and that there were no unusual calls. His name was toward the bottom of the list.
Crismore, whose number is toward the top of the contact list, said that although most callers have been polite when he explains the mix-up, he’s still upset.
“I’ve had this number forever,” he said. “All this anonymous stuff bothers me to no end. I’m not anonymous, I’m proud of who I am and proud of what I stand for.”
Crismore said he’s a Republican who has donated to Gardner, but that he has no idea how his number came to be associated with the senator.
