(Texas Scorecard) – The U.S. Department of Justice charged Canadian Aubrey Cottle with hacking and stealing sensitive data from the Republican Party of Texas.
Canadian authorities arrested Cottle last Wednesday and are pursuing additional charges.
According to the complaint, Cottle had electronic devices with stolen data in a folder titled “EpikFailYouLostTheGame.” The name referenced the hosting provider, Epik, that Cottle allegedly breached to access the Texas GOP website.
Cottle, also known as “Kirtainer,” claimed responsibility on social media for the attack. Investigators used his posts to show his involvement and gather additional evidence.
Cottle stated on LinkedIn that he founded Anonymous, a decentralized hacker group: “Yes, that one. Hal Turner, Scientology, Guy Fawkes masks, you got it. Really. Google it.”
His byline also references “Hacktivism”—a term blending “hack” and “activism”—to describe hacking for political or social purposes.
He allegedly breached the RPT website on September 11, 2021, in retaliation against the Texas Heartbeat Act, which prohibits abortions when fetal heartbeats are detected and went into effect on September 1, 2021.
Cottle defaced the RPT landing page with items like “The Republican ‘F**king Americans Daily’ Party of Texas P.O. Box 9/11 JET FUEL DOESN’T MELT STEEL BEAMS, BUSH LIED, PEOPLE DIED,” “Trans demon hackers are coming to get you,” and “Abortion is a choice.”
“About time,” wrote GiveSendGo founder Jacob Wells on X, responding to Cottle’s arrest. “We sent all his information over to the Biden DOJ/Secret Service and they did nothing with it. Will be reaching out to the prosecution to get charges added for GiveSendGo.”
Cottle admitted to hacking GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding site, in February 2022 in response to its hosting a fundraiser for the Canada Freedom Convoy, which protested strict COVID lockdown policies.
“I did it! Come at me! What are you going to do?! What are you going to do to me, huh?!” Cottle screamed on the video livestream under his Kirtainer name.
The United States Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Texas declined to comment on either case. However, the FBI Austin Cyber Task Force is investigating, and Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Karthik Srinivasan is prosecuting the 2021 case.
According to the office’s press release, Cottle faces up to five years in prison.
Under the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, however, any Texas county “in which an individual who is a victim of the offense resides” may prosecute Cottle for second-degree felonies. Penalties range from two to twenty years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
In response to Cottle bragging “CAN’T ARREST ME,” Wells told Texas Scorecard, “Proverbs 16:18,” which states, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”