GOP lawmaker says he was hacked by Chinese spies

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said Tuesday that he was the victim of a hacking attack by Chinese spies after hackers reportedly also managed to read emails belonging to State Department employees.

“I thank the FBI for notifying me that the CCP hacked into my personal and campaign emails from May 15th to June 16th of this year,” Bacon wrote Monday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. He added that the hackers “utilized a vulnerability in the Microsoft software” and that the breach was not caused by “user error.”

Bacon, who has been a member of congress for the last six years, said the CCP hackers also targeted other victims in their operation.  

“Thus, there were other victims in this cyber operation,” the congressman added. “The Communist government in China are not our friends and are very active in conducting cyber espionage.”

 “I’ll work overtime to ensure Taiwan gets every $ of the $19B in weapons backlog they’ve ordered, and more,” Bacon said. 

Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee launched an investigation earlier this month into recent data breaches of email systems at federal agencies such as the State Department and the Department of Commerce. 

Chinese-based hackers also breached the email of U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns last month. 

In their letters, the Oversight Republicans told Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo that they are requesting a briefing on the matter, saying the purpose is “to understand the extent and ramifications of the breach by Chinese hackers.”