Ontario man pleads guilty in Texas Republican Party data case

An Ontario man accused of stealing and leaking data from the Texas Republican Party in 2021 has pleaded guilty in a Canadian court, according to his lawyers. A statement from his legal team said Aubrey Cottle accepted responsibility for his role in the cyberattack on the party’s website. His lawyers said he pleaded guilty in a Newmarket, Ontario, courthouse to unauthorized use of a computer, mischief to computer data, and failing to comply with a release order. U.S. authorities previously said Cottle, who is from Oshawa, Ontario, had been arrested and was facing charges related to the same incident. They alleged he accessed the party’s server without permission, downloaded backup data that included personal information, and posted the material online. His lawyers say he should not be prosecuted twice for the same conduct.