Independence Hall Tea Party PAC Website Hacked, Vandalized

Hackers managed to seize the reins of a Tea Party PAC's website this week, replacing existing material with a variety of offensive messages, before it appeared to be taken offline altogether.

According to TechEye.net, users of the popular 4chan community gained access to administrator privileges for the website of the Independence Hall Tea Party PAC at some point on Thursday after guessing the website's password, which was reportedly "p9ssw0rd."

TechEye reports that the website at one point "flashed a vertical row of animated gifs of an animal appearing to rub its genitals, before redirecting to a Facebook user called 'Dillon Tilly.'" According to the New Times Broward-Palm Beach, the hackers also posted racist and anti-semitic messages, as well as child pornography for a period of time.

Beyond the digital vandalism, TechEye also notes that hackers had obtained and released a full list of the PAC's private donors.

At the time of publishing, the website appeared to be down entirely.

Independence Hall Tea Party PAC is a small organization covering Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania that has endorsed GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. It's unlikely to be a huge financial help for the Republican frontrunner, however, considering it has only raised around $300 in the 2012 election cycle.

PAC President Don Adams tells the New Times that he's now planning legal action.

"I really don't know if I want to make a comment about it," Adams said. "We're an all-volunteer organization, and our goal is to try to limit government, lower taxes and promote free enterprise. And if that's such an awful thing, there's obviously something wrong."

Click over to the New Times Broward-Palm Beach for screenshots of the various stages of hacker havoc, most of which are not safe for work.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[Get Smarty]

06:20 AM on 07/22/2012

He who laughs last, laughs best!

Independence Hall Tea Party PAC

[Get Smarty]

06:16 AM on 07/22/2012

The Independence Hall Tea Party Association is the oldest and largest independent Tea Party in the tri-state (DE, NJ, PA) region with thousands of members and friends.

In February, 2010, the Association started a PAC which raised over $27,000 and, together with volunteer strength, helped elect 4 new Republican Congressmen (Barletta, Fitzpatrick, Meehan, and Runyan) and a new Republican Senator (Pat Toomey)--all in the Greater Philadelphia area. (Wait, isn't that suppose to be Obama country.)

In the stuffy HuffPost attempt to demean and ridicule us--while somehow downplaying the vicious attacks by left wing sympathizers who illegally smeared porn and racist remarks all over our website (in follow-up posts to this story, hundreds of HuffPost readers condoned this obscene and uncivil behavior, which, in itself, speaks volumes)--they reported on an inactive fundraising quarter for the PAC in which we took in $300.

By labeling our organization as 'small' and publishing numbers from an inactive fundraising quarter, the HuffPost underestimated us--as did most of the readership. (For those in the dark--it's never wise to underestimate the opposition.)

A prediction: Our PAC will raise triple what it did in 2010 and max out with most of our endorsed candidates. And do you know why?

[Richard 1954]

07:18 AM on 05/19/2012

They'er logo, ' A Snake in the Grass '. I've seen one of those on my 5 acres here in the country. I didn't TREAD on it either, the shovel works better.

[rhettphive]

10:47 AM on 05/14/2012

Why is this being hyped. This "super PAC" only raised $300. Who's to say Adams didn't put this up on the website himself and now is trying to sue just to get someone to talk about his PAC or the tea party again. This could be his way to get contributions to his "super PAC." I smell a rat.

[Jeremy Callaway]

03:29 AM on 06/06/2012

well they were trying to put blame on "9GAG" if you know anything about internet hackers 4Chan hates 9GAG well most of the internet does.

[banjo man]

08:23 PM on 05/13/2012

I was wondering when this sort of thing would start happening? Just goes to show that no one can stop a hacker if they want to hack you....Tea Party - better start beefing op your security or all your secrets will be exposed for the world to see.

[Bill Edelman]

07:51 PM on 05/13/2012

I don't condone cyber attacks, but this was more a political statement than an attempt to steal an identity or redirect funds. Illegal? Yes? Justified? Depends on how you feel about the Tea Party getting some comeuppance.

[QuantumBob]

10:46 AM on 05/13/2012

Yes, smaller government, how else will it fitt into your bedroom, vagina, anus...etc.

[DCmykl]

01:13 AM on 05/13/2012

Wow, they raised a whopping $300 for Romney. Heck, I've given Obama more than that myself.

[bordway]

01:04 PM on 05/13/2012

Ditto.

[rt1027]

01:06 AM on 05/13/2012

big deal.........a tiny website was hacked easily

[Hoosierbrad]

11:59 PM on 05/12/2012

Their new password is p9sswOrd.

[luzville]

11:16 PM on 05/12/2012

They disrupted a lot of Town-Hall meetings. So now they are getting a "taste of their own medicine."

[Patrick Proctor]

10:07 PM on 05/12/2012

MF the do what I say - not what I do -- don't tread on me but I can tread on you hypocritical tea party.

[SoCalFamilyGuy]

07:09 PM on 05/12/2012

"Racist and anti-semitic messages"... how did anyone tell the difference between that and a regular tea party website?

[bordway]

01:05 PM on 05/13/2012

They're spelled correctly.

[ljc]

05:10 PM on 05/12/2012

Don Adams ?

Wasn't he Maxwell Smart ?

[ljc]

05:08 PM on 05/12/2012

Independence Hall Tea Party PAC

--

The names they pick are hilarious....all patriotic all the time...yet they are the most unpatriotic people in the country.