The hacker known as Guccifer 2.0 on Friday published files stolen from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee about its chairman, New Mexico Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, including “thousands of pages” containing financial data and information about Lujan’s perceived weaknesses.
#DCCC dossier on Ben Ray Lujan https://t.co/2UKTY8Xzj5 @repbenraylujan #Guccifer2
— GUCCIFER 2.0 (@GUCCIFER_2) September 23, 2016
A sampling of the documents appeared online, while hundreds more were provided to the Washington Examiner. “It seems the DCCC Research Department collected all his speeches and statements, financial data, as well as his weak and strong points on thousands of pages,” Guccifer said in a statement on his WordPress blog. “It will be amazing.”
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2600661
The veracity of the documents could not be immediately verified. The DCCC, where Lujan’s office directed inquiries, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Like previous releases, the documents contain information that could be seen as embarrassing or compromising to the top official responsible for campaigning on behalf of Democrats in Congress. One document, totaling just under 4,000 words, lists a litany of positions that Lujan took against his party in Congress, like a vote in favor of $10 million for enhancing a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
A “backgrounder” on Lujan’s strengths and weaknesses, commonly compiled by party officials but never made public, highlights parts of his record that could be exploited by his opponents. “Lujan had four sponsored bills pass the House of Representatives,” that file notes. “None of his sponsored bills have been enacted by the president.”
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2599371
The file, dated February 2015, notes the party should do more to investigate Lujan’s life prior to his 2005 entry into public life as a member of New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission, stating, “Additional research could/should be done into Lujan’s record pre-NMPRC.”
A 96-page document of research the party conducted on Lujan between February and July 2015 takes note of other problems for Lujan, including details of his financial situation. “Lujan took out and repaid a $200,000 loan for his 2008 campaign with an added $31,420 in loan interest payments,” the document states. “The loans are not listed on Lujan’s personal financial disclosures.
“In 2009, the Lujan campaign paid $54,000 in back taxes to the federal government, including nearly $14,000 in interest and penalties, after underpaying its payroll taxes in 2008,” the document adds.
Guccifer 2.0 has taken credit for leaks from the DCCC and the Democratic National Committee this year. Guccifer in August also published what he said were documents obtained from a personal computer belonging to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, though the Democratic leader denied the claim.
