FBI Opens Investigation After Mysterious Pence Texts Are Sent to GOP Members
The press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence was the subject of an impersonation attempt in which someone sent text messages to Republican members of Congress as the press secretary Alyssa Farah.
The text messages were seeking information about the whereabouts of the Congress, according to CNN, and the FBI was investigating the matter, CNN reported.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the impersonator requested meetings with the lawmakers
“At least one member has been repeatedly engaging with the imposter,” The Journal reported.
The White House is treating this incident as a potential security threat, the Washington Examiner reported.
As an extra security measure, the number used has been blocked from contacting phones associated with the administration.
One of the congressmen affected was Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, according to his spokeswoman, Maura Gillespie.
“For months, we have referred these hoaxes to law enforcement, but only recently has there been a renewed interest to address the issue,” Gillespie told CNN in a statement.
“Congressman Kinzinger is eager to cooperate with law enforcement as they see fit.”
Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming and the House Republican Conference chairwoman, told The Journal that she was aware of the messages and had alerted the House sergeant at arms.
Neither the White House nor the FBI had responded to requests from multiple outlets for comment on the issue.
The request for personal information about GOP Congress members is of concern due to obvious security breaches that could result from unfettered information flow.
The threat to GOP lawmakers is no doubt a reminder of the attack on Republicans in June of 2017, during which multiple congressional members were shot while at baseball practice.
At that time, a lone gunman opened fire on Republicans practicing for a charity game in suburban Virginia.
The suspect was engaged by Capitol Police, and there were no fatalities, though several were wounded.
Most notably wounded was then-Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., who is still recovering from his injuries. Four others were wounded in the incident.
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