knaakWednesday afternoon, Norm Coleman’s attorney, Fritz Knaak, officially responded to news that Wikileaks.org had posted information indicating that sensitive data about Coleman donors has been exposed. Following a press release by Wikileaks.org earlier in the day, which stated the data exposure was the “result of sloppy handling by the campaign,” Knaak characterized the presence of the database’s contents as “theft” and vowed to see the perpetrator(s) behind bars. Read the full statement:

COLEMAN FOR SENATE STATEMENT ON STOLEN DONOR AND SUPPORTER DATA

The following statement was released by Coleman for Senate Legal Counsel, Fritz Knaak:

Last evening, we began to receive emails and phone calls from individuals who indicated they have been contacted, via email, by the email address: press-office@wikileaks.org.

The email stated that this organization was in possession of confidential and private information concerning the person’s financial data that we suspect may have been obtained through a breach of the Coleman for Senate Website.

We immediately contacted federal law enforcement authorities who have initiated an investigation into this matter. In addition, at approximately 8:10 a.m. this morning, we sent an email to those donors and supporters we believe may have been affected by this breach.

It is our intention to pursue all legal options available to us to identify who is in possession of this confidential information, how they obtained it and to do what we can legally do to prevent them from distributing it;

Let me be perfectly clear: We believe a federal crime has been committed. This information has been stolen. And, stealing private, confidential information is illegal.

We intend to fully pursue all legal options available, working with all appropriate local, state and federal authorities to identify the criminals who stole this information and to seek the most severe punishment available for their crimes.

When this individual or individuals are located, we intend to see they are prosecuted. That they are convicted. And that they spend as much time behind bars as is allowed by law.

At this time it appears that several thousand donors may have had their credit card information compromised. To what end, and for what purpose, that we do not know. If any individual used a credit card to make an online contribution to the Coleman for Senate Campaign, we urge them to contact their credit card company and cancel that credit card;

As you may recall, in late January our Coleman for Senate website crashed due to heavy volume, raising concerns as to whether the site had been compromised.

At that time we contacted federal law enforcement authorities who immediately began investigating this matter in conjunction with our vendors who ran our website.

At the conclusion of the law enforcement authorities’ initial investigation, they could not provide us with any evidence that such accusations were accurate — in other words, based on their initial review of our server, they did not discover that any individual had been able to obtain confidential, personal financial information.

As you might expect, this investigation is ongoing — and with this latest incident, the investigation will likely go to a new level of urgency.

The purpose or motive behind this attack is not clear. However, as we are engaged in a critical legal contest in the Minnesota courts that has a national impact on the make-up of the United States Senate, it should be abundantly obvious that this situation is extremely serious.

We are reviewing all potential and motives behind this attack, and we will not cease in our efforts to keep our supporters and donors informed of this situation. Their privacy and confidentiality is of utmost importance to us and this campaign. And, we intend to use all legal means at our disposal to protect them, and to bring these individuals who have committed this act to justice.