In cyber theft case, judge orders Khanna to turn over campaign donor data

CONGRESS | 17TH CONGRESS |
ELECTION 2016 |
In the cyber theft lawsuit roiling the 17th Congressional District race, Ro Khanna’s campaign agreed to hand over its campaign donor information to opponent Rep. Mike Honda following a hearing Tuesday afternoon in federal court.

Honda’s lawyers were in court seeking a preliminary injunction to stop Khanna’s campaign from using the allegedly ill-gotten donor information for its own benefit. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila, however, urged attorney’s for both sides to come to an agreement on their own.

Khanna’s attorneys eventually agreed to turn over its campaign data in order for Honda’s lawyer to determine whether its own data was illegally obtained. Khanna, himself, was also named in the civil lawsuit and has denied his campaign had access to any of the information alleged to have been stolen.

Last month, Honda’s campaign filed a lawsuit Sept. 22 claiming Khanna’s campaign manager pilfered confidential computer records detailing Honda’s campaign donors going back to 2012. Khanna campaign manager Brian Parvizshahi was previously an intern for the fundraising consultant once used by Honda.

According to the lawsuit, Parvizshahi’s access to Honda’s donor information was never revoked and he allegedly access the database up until last year. Parvizshahi resigned as campaign manager on Sept. 22.