Rep. Mike Honda sues opponent Ro Khanna over alleged campaign data theft
A press conference to announce a lawsuit by Rep Mike Honda's campaign against Ro Khanna
SAN JOSE (KTVU) -- Rep. Mike Honda has a filed a federal complaint against the campaign manager of his opponent, alleging that Ro Khanna's campaign manager illegally downloaded financial contributions and personal information of over 10,000 Honda supporters.
The complaints were filed in San Jose federal court and accuse Khanna and Brian Parvizshahi, Khanna's campaign manager, of violating the federal Computer Fraud and abuse Act and the federal Economic Espionage Act by gaining access to private information.
Honda and Khanna, both Democrats, are locked into a tight race to claim the Congressional seat, which Honda has held for 16 years.
The Khanna campaign said they have not seen the lawsuit and told the San Francisco Chronicle that the suit was politically motivated.
“We haven’t had a chance to evaluate the Honda campaign’s complaint and haven’t even been served,” Khanna campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan said. “The fact that Mike Honda went to the press before serving us tells you what this is really about — politics. Down in the polls six weeks before an election, it’s clear Mike Honda will do and say anything to hold on to his seat including suing anyone who is on track to defeat him.”
The suit seeks a preliminary injunction and requests the return of the finance data.