House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she was forced to change her phone number after a hack of House Democrats prompted a bevy of “obscene and sick” phone calls and messages.
In a letter to party members, Pelosi, a Democrat from California, wrote: “I have received scores of mostly obscene and sick calls, voicemails and text messages.”
“Please be careful not to allow your children or family members to answer your phone,” she added.
She also called on other staff members receiving similar messages to change their numbers.
The breach targeted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and several other Democratic Party organizations, Pelosi said, according to CBS News.
Pelosi’s comments came just days after hackers posted the personal information, including phone numbers of Democratic House members and staff, online. The hacker or hacking group named “Guccifer 2.0” claimed responsibility.
It is the latest in a string of high-profile attacks on institutions affiliated with the Democratic Party, including a hack of the Democratic National Committee that led to the resignation of its chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Pelosi described the DNC email hack as an “electronic Watergate break-in.”
An unnamed senior Democratic member told CNN he got messages and “nasty phone calls,” including ones that he received as “expletive Democrat” or “expletive Hillary” or “expletive Congress.”
“It is scary that your privacy can be lost” in such a quick manner, the member said. “There certainly can be a security threat,” the person added.
