Florida man accused of Clinton Foundation
hack to plead guilty
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[February 23, 2017]
By Nate Raymond
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Florida man accused
of trying to hack the Clinton Foundation in 2015 is expected to plead
guilty on Thursday, months after he was sentenced in a related case to
42 years in prison over child pornography discovered on his computers
during the probe.
Timothy Sedlak, 43, is scheduled to plead guilty in federal court in
Manhattan, according to court records. Prosecutors accused him in
September 2015 of trying to gain access to an unnamed New York-based
global charitable organization's network.
Prosecutors have never named the organization. But a court filing
obtained by Reuters said U.S. Secret Service agents in 2015 questioned
Sedlak about notes they found referencing former Democratic presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea Clinton.
Sedlak, who called himself a private investigator, told the agents he
was researching whether charities were unintentionally providing funding
to Islamic militant groups, and said the Clintons "came up in his
research," the filing said.
The filing's description of the Clintons matched prosecutors'
descriptions of two previously unnamed individuals who were said to be
an "executive" at the charity and an "individual who has been publicly
affiliated" with it.
Chelsea Clinton is the vice chair of Clinton Foundation, which was
founded by her father, former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Its full name
is the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
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The filing, a summary of a Secret Service agent's interview with Sedlak,
was downloaded by Reuters on Feb. 3 and soon after was replaced by a
redacted version removing the Clintons' names.
A spokeswoman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and Sedlak's
lawyer declined comment. Clinton Foundation representatives did not
respond to requests for comment.
The investigation into Sedlak, of Ocoee, Florida, predated probes into
cyber attacks on Democrats during the 2016 presidential election.
U.S. intelligence agencies in January released an assessment that
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a covert effort through the
cyber attacks to help Republican Donald Trump's electoral chances by
discrediting Clinton.
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![](../images/022317pics/news_c7.jpg)
Timothy Sedlak , sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roy Dalton in
Orlando after a federal jury in May found him guilty on charges
including that he produced and possessed child pornography, is
pictured in this undated booking photo. Courtesy Seminole County
Sheriff's Office/Handout via REUTERS
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Prosecutors have said that Sedlak launched about 390,000 unsuccessful
attempts to gain unauthorized access to the charitable organization's
computer network.
Following his arrest, authorities discovered files on his computers
containing child pornography, including a number of images depicting
Sedlak himself sexually abusing a toddler, prosecutors said.
Sedlak as a result was separately charged in Florida, where a federal
jury in Orlando in May found him guilty on charges including that he
produced and possessed child pornography. He was sentenced in August to
42 years in prison.
(Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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