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A man who was contracted to work on former Rep. Katie Hill’s 2018 campaign for the 25th District Congressional Primary Election has been arrested by FBI agents on suspicion of cyberattacks on campaign websites.
Arthur Jan Dam, 32, of Santa Monica, was taken into custody Friday morning following a criminal complaint being filed Wednesday charging him with one count of intentionally damaging or attempting to damage a protected computer.
FBI officials reported that agents did not find a link between the cyberattacks and Hill’s campaign.
“Dam was married to a woman who was employed by another candidate – and the eventual winner (Katie Hill) — in the congressional race,” according to the complaint. “The FBI has not uncovered any evidence that the winning candidate or Dam’s wife orchestrated or were involved in the series of cyberattacks.”
“Dam allegedly staged four cyberattacks in April and May of 2018 that took down the candidate’s website for a total of 21 hours,” reads a release about the arrest from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
“The victim reported suffering losses, including website downtime, a reduction in campaign donations, and time spent by campaign staff and others conducting critical incident response,” said the criminal complaint.
The Signal has acquired documents linking Dam to the Katie Hill for Congress campaign, with the campaign paying him $500 for graphic design and website security consultation.
If convicted as charged in the criminal complaint, Dam could serve a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
Hill’s opponents in the 2018 25th District race could not be reached for comment as of the publication of this story.
Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to specifically name the victim listed in the complaint.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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