On October 8, Andrew Auernheimer (“Weev”) made public a letter and a threat – or promise – depending on your perspective. The letter, archived on Cryptome.org, begins:
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2015 16:24:57 +0200
Subject: US Attorneys shopping for prostitutes on taxpayer dime. — Leaks incoming.
From: Andrew Auernheimer <gluttony[a t]gmail.com>
To: “Intrater, Zach (USANJ)” <Zach.Intrater[a t]usdoj.gov>, Paul.Fishman[a t]usdoj.gov
An open letter to my old friends US Attorneys Paul Fishman and Zach Intrater.
It’s been over a year since I last asked for a fair and just amount of compensation for the three years of my life you stole under false pretense. I was kidnapped at gunpoint, wrongfully imprisoned, and tortured thanks to lies spewed by your office and you have yet to apologize and make amends for that. Since yesterday Matthew Keys was wrongfully found guilty on all counts (a conviction the DOJ obtained by perjuring themselves to falsely exaggerate the level of financial damages to elevate his charges to a felony in order to deny him a fair attempt at a misdemeanor charge) I have a message for you and federal prosecutors around the country: we are going to leak information to expose you all in the next days for the lying cheaters that you are.
The statements of prosecutors should be inviolate, and yet all around the country you have continually spewed nothing but lies in federal criminal cases. Your ilk are incapable of respecting the sanctity of the courts or the Constitution. Even the most sacred personal oath that a man can take is a rotten joke to people like you: a promise of commitment to one’s wife. We have located a number of US Attorneys within the Ashley Madison dataset using the resources of the taxpayer (offices, computers, paid time, and Internet connections) to attempt to cheat on their wives. Those so responsible in your office will be the first to be disclosed.
Guilty parties will be published one by one on gotnews.com — its editor, Chuck C. Johnson, is committed to bringing hypocritical adulterers amongst federal prosecutors to justice.
Read more on Cryptome.
The same day, GotNews.com named one individual and provided a screenshot from the AshleyMadison data dump. PogoWasRight.org is not going to investigate or attempt to verify whether the claims and information are accurate. Nor will this site link to the post in question.
While this all seems seedy and somewhat despicable from a privacy perspective, is there a legitimate case to be made that as public prosecutors, use of work computers and/or exposure that might put prosecutors at risk of extortion are matters of public concern? As much as Weev might be motivated by revenge, are these revelations newsworthy?