It's all about who you know

Luke Rosiak reports in the Daily Caller,

A former Senate aide charged with doxxing Republican senators and extorting a witness reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors in Washington after his wealthy and well-connected family brought in experts to talk about his mental health and the private supervision they could provide him.

A judge signaled that Jackson Cosko had allegedly taken large quantities of sensitive information from the Senate, but banned media from hearing the details. A hearing had been scheduled for Thursday, but on Tuesday, the court canceled it and indicated that a deal had been struck behind the scenes. A plea agreement hearing, where the deal is to be officially signed, was set for April 5.

During Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s September 2018 confirmation hearing, Cosko — a former IT aide who once managed Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan’s office computer accounts — allegedly posted to Wikipedia the home addresses of Republican senators who supported the Supreme Court justice.

“I own EVERYTHING,” Cosko told a Hassan aide who caught him in the act, according to prosecutors. “If you tell anyone I will leak it all. Emails, signal conversations, gmails.”

Information revealed in court since then suggested that might not have been a bluff. U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan on Jan. 24 said Cosko allegedly possessed terabytes of information, including Senate data so sensitive that it could not be discussed in open court.

“He downloaded more information than was originally understood. There is no combination of conditions that could ensure the safety of the community,” Hogan said in December 2018.

Brian W. Stolarz, Cosko’s attorney, did not return a request for comment on the plea deal.

Prosecutors had underscored that he was a flight risk and that they had concerns he would engage in obstruction of justice.

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