Rep. Mike Honda supporters across Silicon Valley are having “Aha!” moments as news comes to light of the lawsuit against Ro Khanna for Congress for hacking into sensitive fund raising data and using it to contact Honda supporters.
The LA Times reports from Thursday’s press conference, "What you have here is a cyberattack," said Gautum Dutta, an attorney for Honda's campaign. "You have the theft of confidential, proprietary information that's then used against the supporters of a rival campaign. That's un-American and it's illegal."
That afternoon, Khanna campaign manager Brian Parvizshahi resigned from his position.
“The lawsuit filed in court is incredibly serious. The Khanna campaign violated both the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Economic Espionage Act. Instead of explaining the crime and agreeing to cease its illegal activities, the Khanna campaign decided to duck and cover,” said Vedant Patel, Communications Director for the Honda Campaign. “Ro Khanna has a long, checkered history of failing to follow rules and a proven history of breaking laws. The public deserves more from Mr. Khanna than more denials and distortions. Mr. Parvizshahi’s resignation is clear indication that Ro Khanna knew his campaign’s activities were illegal. The facts, through clear digital fingerprints, are that Ro Khanna and his staff had access to important and confidential files related to the Honda Campaign and were using these files illegally in clear violation of federal law.”
The San Jose Mercury News has long been a sounding board for the Khanna campaign consistently backing him since before Silicon Valley Kos came on to the scene in the fall of 2012. On September 12, they endorsed Khanna again with another biased article disparaging Rep Honda in favor of Ro Khanna.
As a Mike Honda supporter whose private contact information was stolen (including that of my husband and parents) by Ro Khanna for Congress, I have created a petition to urge San Jose Mercury News to withdraw its endorsement of Ro Khanna. To disclose, I am not a donor of the Congressman’s campaign, but a known supporter. Numerous supporters of the congressman have been contacted directly by Mr. Khanna with the intent of siphoning off support from Rep. Honda, particularly in the Indo American community. Many describe feeling pressured and manipulated, and one person described a direct threat made by Khanna. I ask the Mercury News not to lose sight that the stolen data represents individual lives that have been negatively affected by the campaign they endorsed. I also ask them to consider the trust the communities of Silicon Valley have placed in them as their paper of record. The San Jose Mercury News endorsement is a betrayal of this trust.
Please sign the moveon.org petition here:
petitions.moveon.org/…
If you were contacted by Ro Khanna or harassed by his campaign, please leave a comment on the petition.
Learn more about the CA17 race:
High-Tech Watergate in Silicon Valley Congressional Race by Glen The Plumber
Watergate Redux? Congressional District Contest Heats Up as Mike Honda Files Lawsuit Against Ro Khanna for Allegedly Stealing Donor Data by Giovanni Albanese Jr./India-West Staff Reporter
Exclusive: Evidence Points to Campaign Finance Fraud by Ro Khanna’s Vice Chair
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