Haverford College grad pleads guilty to attempted hacking of President Trump's tax information
Interesting story.
PS: I do not believe in hacking as much as I would love to see trumps tax returns.
https://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Feds-College-students-tried-to-access-Trumps-tax-return-524979361.html
..................Using a Haverford computer lab, the students opened a fraudulent federal financial aid application in the name of an unnamed Trump family member, prosecutors said. The students managed to reset a password, and, using Trump's Social Security number and date of birth, repeatedly tried to import Trump's federal tax information into the application, according to court documents........................
...........Hiemstra's lawyer, Michael van der Veen, said in an interview that his client — a Fulbright scholar with no prior record — and Harris "as much wanted to see if it could be done as do it. They didn't give it much forethought and they certainly didn't consider consequences."
The lawyer added: "But for this fluke, he is level-headed, socially conscious, and he stood up today in court and took full responsibility for his conduct."
Harris, the other defendant, also hopes to resolve the case with a plea, according to his lawyer, William J. Brennan.
“This is a college prank that just went awry,” Brennan said. “He certainly has no ill will or malice toward the president of the United States and his family, and he is very remorseful for any inconvenience he caused him.”
August 07, 2019
Haverford College grad pleads guilty to attempted hacking of President Trump's tax information
https://www.phillyvoice.com/haverford-college-donald-trump-tax-irs-justin-hiemstra-pleads-guilty-hacking/
By Michael Tanenbaum PhillyVoice Staff
A recent graduate of Haverford College faces prison time after pleading guilty to an attempt to access the tax information of President Donald Trump, prosecutors said.
Justin Hiemstra, 22, of Minnesota, was charged in connection with an effort to reveal the tax returns withheld by Trump in the week leading up to the 2016 election.
At the Haverford computer lab, Hiemstra created a fake Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application in the name of a Trump family member. When he found that another person had already obtained a user name and password for Donald Trump, Hiemstra managed to successfully reset the password to the original account by correctly answering challenge questions.
Prosecutors said Hiemstra used Trump's social security number and date of birth in an attempt to import his federal tax information into the fake FAFSA application. The attempt was unsuccessful.
“No matter what you think about the president’s tax returns, clearly this kind of illegal activity cannot be tolerated or condoned. Unauthorized or false attempts to obtain any citizen’s IRS filings are a serious violation of privacy rights and a federal crime, and there’s nothing funny about it,” said U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain. “Now this defendant is being held accountable for his actions, as he should be.”
Hiemstra faces a $200,000 fine and up to two years in prison. His attorney told CBS3 that Hiemstra does not deserve prison time and plans to travel to Kazakhstan on a Fulbright Scholarship. He is expected to be permitted to travel and face sentencing upon his return on the misdemeanor charges.
https://www.inquirer.com/business/haverford-students-hack-trump-tax-returns-waynes-world-beavis-butthead-financial-aid-20190905.html
Haverford student who came this close to hacking Trump tax returns will plead guilty. Here’s how he did it.
by Sam Wood
The students were stymied. Someone in the Trump family had already applied for college financial aid.