Michael Cohen's family doxed after Trump guilty verdict in porn star hush money case

[Jilly_in_VA]

The addresses and phone numbers of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's family members were posted to a doxing website after presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in connection with a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election.

Cohen, Trump's former "fixer," played a key role in the plot to keep adult film actress Stormy Daniels quiet during the 2016 election and testified against Trump at trial. According to Cohen, Trump said the revelation of Daniels' story of a prior affair would be a "total disaster" and "catastrophic" for his 2016 campaign.

Trump has denied the affair but was convicted of falsifying business records related to Cohen's hush money payment to keep Daniels from telling her story. "What I was doing was at the direction of and for the benefit of Mr. Trump," Cohen, who served time in prison, said at trial.

Phone numbers and addresses for Cohen's wife and children were posted early Monday morning on a site that has been used to target other figures involved in Trump’s various legal issues, according to the group Advance Democracy, a non-profit research group.


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/michael-cohens-family-doxed-trump-guilty-verdict-porn-star-hush-money-rcna155268

This needs to STOP. NOW.

[LAS14]

1. What does "swatted" mean? I looked "swat" up in Urban Dictionary...

...and nothing seemed to fit.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

5. people make a distress call to police

and use your address so the swat team shows to your house not theirs

[flashman13]

34. And if they don't like your looks you might get your ass shot off.

Especially true if you are something other than white.

[GPV]

6. I think giving the cops a rival's address, claiming they're making bombs or something. The

possibility of this poor person going down in a hail gunfire is pretty scary.

[orange jar]

7. Generally:

Someone grabs their target's address and calls the police impersonating them. While impersonating the target, they'll pretend to be on the verge of committing a violent crime so that cops arrive and forcibly enter the target's home. Swatters hope that their victim freaks out so that the police will be forced to neutralize them. Their goal can be to either scare their victims or kill them (indirectly).

Here's a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatting

*Edited for clarity.

[usedtobedemgurl]

9. When you call a complaint to the cops.....

Usually it is something like you heard shots coming from such and such an address and you think someone is being held hostage. The SWAT team shows up and someone could easily get hurt or worse.

[Stinky The Clown]

12. Calling in a false police report such that a SWAT team response is likely

Innocent people can be in mortal danger from adrenalized cops as a result

[AllaN01Bear]

35. false police call .

[DoBW]

42. Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat)

hard core armored military -like police response forces deployed in hostage type or life threatening situations. blow the place open guns blazing type sh*t. The slang seems to have morphed into referring generally to provoking police action on innocent people for extreme harrassnent

[RANDYWILDMAN]

2. He is going after a witness

and we all know it.

Come on Judge Mercha, throw the book at him, please

[underpants]

3. I'd assume a SWATting is next. Despicable

[WiVoter]

4. Is There No Way To Trace This?

[onecaliberal]

8. Of course there IS.

Sadly the justice department is busy protecting the fascists and their party.

[WiVoter]

11. I Don't Think Michael Will Let This Pass

He won’t stay silent.

[onecaliberal]

17. It's not like people can just sell their homes or pay for alternative places to live. This is fucked up beyond measure.

I hope karma catches these people and those protecting them.

[ancianita]

20. Right. He knows who to call. He's had a long term relationship with the SDNY and the FBI should get on this.

[onecaliberal]

44. He can't DO anything about it.

[soldierant]

39. I think it's more local police departments

which are packed with Republinazis even in blue states which are more susceptible.

[PlutosHeart]

19. First thing I think of since

the people targeted are of greater consequence to the American people.

I do not understand. Why can they not trace or something?

[Think. Again.]

25. They can.

[NanaCat]

37. Because people aren't using landlines for this

Those are easy to trace. It's a new age now.

The same way that a scammer can call you and have your number show up on caller ID? These traitors can use the same tricks of mobile phone, computer and internet technology to call you in a way that is very hard to trace.

It's not the 80s anymore.

Really.

[JoseBalow]

31. Depends on how sloppy they are

The so-called "doxing website" is probably/should be hosted on a server in a country that would make it difficult if not impossible to subpoena, like in Russia, Iran, etc. Otherwise investigators could obtain server records that include IP addresses, which probably wouldn't be useful because posting to a site anonymously behind proxies isn't hard if you know what you're doing.

But some dipshit MAGA incel posting from their phone or mother's basement to some domestic website could be very easy to track down if they're too dumb to take precautions and cover their tracks.

[Irish_Dem]

10. The GOP is a crime syndicate and this is the new normal.

Intimidation, harassment, death threats to anyone who opposes them.

This is the America the PutinGOP wants.

[Traurigkeit]

28. Past time to kill off the Republicans.

[DFW]

13. This is what Republicans do. This is who they are.

You want it to stop? Modify their DNA.

[SupportSanity]

21. If you want it to stop, make sure everybody you know votes in November. That will start the DNA

modification.

[soldierant]

40. We aren't quite there scienftifically yet

and the Catch 22 is that we may not want to get there, because what's to preven tthem from modifying our DNA once thetechnology is available?

[SupportSanity]

48. Scientifically, yes. But how about the DNA of the GOP party itself?

The invaders have taken over and their DNA looks nothing like, not even close to, the DNA from the GOP of 50 years ago.

The right votes can produce an epigenetic change in the DNA of the GOP.

It all hinges on Novemeber's election. Then there's a chance.

[soldierant]

49. Ah. Alrighty, then.

[Think. Again.]

14. Yet another Domestic Terrorism charge NOT brought by the DOJ.

[ancianita]

23. Doxing is not terrorism. A terrorist act is an action that hits the general public. This is what Michael Cohen knows...

doxing someone with the intent to make someone fear for their safety or to incite others to cause them harm can be illegal. Two federal laws cover this. Doxers can be found. Cohen, as a lawyer and key witness in the felon's trial, knows the First Amendment does not protect doxers who publish highly personal information about his family that's not of legitimate concern to the public (as journalists/publishers can do), and which causes fear, distress or harm to him and his family.

The DOJ does pursue domestic terrorism.

[Think. Again.]

24. From the link you provided...

Domestic Terrorism:

"Involves acts, including threats or conspiracies to engage in such acts, which are violent or otherwise dangerous to human life, which appear motivated by an intent to coerce, intimidate, or retaliate against a government or a civilian population ("terrorist motive&quot , and which occur primarily within the United States and do not involve a foreign terrorist organization.

Statutory violations which, when accompanied by a terrorist motive, constitute federal crimes of terrorism include, but are not limited to, those listed under the Program Category of International Terrorism."

[ancianita]

27. Doxing is posting, not threat. It's invasion of privacy. Terrorist intent to cause fear must be PROVEN, as you know.

1. You apparently keep glossing over the work of identifying and then getting proof of intent.
2. This act directed toward one family is not under the DOJ's definition of domestic terrorism, which is an act to create fear and distress in large groups of people.

[SomedayKindaLove]

43. Seems the intent of doxing and swatting is to create fear in large groups of people

By targeting individuals. So yes, the incident only potentially terrorizes one family, but the message to others is that if they take a stand or oppose Trump this is what could happen.

It’s like when the arrested black voters in Florida who were taken off the voter rolls with the possibility of a $10,000 legal bill. Sure it’s just an individual arrested, but the overall message is to black voters of the state. Go ahead, try and vote. It might only cost you $10,000. It’s not a coincidence these arrests happened once early voting opened. The intent is to intimidate others not to vote.

We already know the Constitution needs an overhaul due to the Trump years. They turned the Constitution on its ear. Seems like the DOJ might have to change its definition of domestic terrorism as well.

[ancianita]

45. I get your line of argument. I just think that until you can show the DOJ how to prove the intent and messaging,

they'll have to treat investigations of the two differently. Terrorism isn't covered by 1A. Certain kinds of doxing are.

[NanaCat]

41. Oh FFS

They have to be able to find the people first, and that is not easy to do.

Surely you realize that it's not the 80s anymore, where the cops can trace landlines to their source if they can keep the person on the line 30 seconds. That world no longer exists. Scammers can call you right now, and your caller ID will show your own bloody number as the person calling you. Do you have even the faintest realisation of the technological sophistication that takes?

To trace a call to its origin in the 21st century where the rest of us live, investigators need to get through proxies, firewalls, VPNs, crypto filters and I have no idea how many more layers of opacity bouncing off satellites and into and out of multiple countries all across the planet. Some numbers can never be traced back to their source, and if you can't find who called, guess what? Law enforcement can't arrest them. And if law enforcement can't find them, then the DOJ can't do jack about bringing them to justice.

FFS, I don't even watch the telly, but even I know the cop shows have addressed how this impedes them from finding perpetrators via phone call. The one with the flaky but brilliant blonde computer geek--Criminal Minds? That show was addressing this very issue back in the 00s, from what blared from my Mum's telly back then.

Where have you been that you think it's still the 80s with the quaint tracing of landline calls to find criminals?

[Think. Again.]

47. nonsense. Technology has improved, not degraded.

[sinkingfeeling]

15. We need to make doxing illegal across the US. Currently, it's

only illegal in a few states like Illinois.

[70sEraVet]

18. And put some HARSH penalties on the crime!

Given the danger it puts the victims in, an 'Attepted Murder' charge wouldn't be unreasonable!

[orange jar]

16. Doxing/swatting is a real concern, imo.

I see people here speculate that Trump supporters will try to start a physical riot, war, etc. I don't think that's likely. The real threat is doxing/swatting; that's where the real danger lies, in my eyes. Everyone's personal information is already available online if you know where to look, and sadly, all it takes is a few dedicated and malicious people to gather info for others to do as they wish with.

[orangecrush]

22. Mob tactics

Expected.

[Owens]

26. The Silence is Deafening

Not one Republican or even Convicted Felon Trump is denouncing this violence. We know Trump gave out those numbers.

Democrats need to pounce on this and show how violent Trump and his followers are.

[ancianita]

46. And then there's Google. Anyone can find out what Google/Google Images/Google Maps knows about them.

Anyone worried about being attacked by trumpcult can take good advice from the ACLU and Homeland Security.

Wired gives good advice, too.

[Irish_Dem]

30. This is how Russia and China built a compliant, docile citizenry.

Threatening, terrorizing, and killing its citizens.

[moonshinegnomie]

32. i wonder if theyse morons know swatting is a federal crime

[spanone]

33. K&R

[FailureToCommunicate]

36. Unfortunately, this is what awaits any member of

the jury that just handed down TSF’s Guilty verdict, who may feel moved to speak publicly.

[Torchlight]

38. trump's tantrums would be silly, except they get people killed.

In May, 202, ABC News found 54 cases invoking 'Trump' in connection with violence, threats, alleged assaults. 12 of the perpetrators hailed Trump in during and in the immediate aftermath of physically assaulting innocent people. In another 18 cases, perpetrators cheered or defended Trump while taunting or threatening others. And in another 10 cases, Trump and his rhetoric were cited in court to explain a defendant's violent or threatening behavior. That was over four years ago. I can only guess the numbers in the here and now.

It's one (of many) reasons I shake my head when confronted with the "no blame" routine. This is where the idiots go into ludricrous speed with the "maybe-he-meant-this-instead" excuses (the least and last refuge of Timmy the Troll)