Five men who were working in the U.S. Capitol as IT contractors are under investigation by federal law enforcement officials.
A lawmaker originally told BuzzFeed news that the men, who had access to the House of Representatives entire computer network, had been arrested late Thursday in the Longworth House Office Building.
But U.S. Capitol Police spokesperson Eva Malecki later contradicted the report to the news outlet.
“At the request of Members of Congress, the United States Capitol Police are investigating the actions of House IT support staff. No Members are being investigated. No arrests have been made. It should be noted that, administratively, House staff were asked to update their security settings as a best practice. We have no further comment on the ongoing investigation at this time,” Malecki said in a statement.
The lawmaker had said earlier in the night that members were told to change their passwords to their emails and other applications.
“They said it was some sort of procurement scam, but now I’m concerned that they may have stolen data from us, emails, who knows,” the lawmaker said, in a story that is developing.
Correction: This story originally passed on the report that the contractors had been arrested. They have not.
