Gay furry hackers, known as SiegedSec, have targeted the conservative Heritage Foundation in protest of Project 2025. They recently posted chat logs between one of their hackers and a Heritage executive named Mike Howell. In the conversation, Howell claimed that the Heritage Foundation was in the process of identifying and outing members of SiegedSec, and that they were working with the FBI.
Howell, who is the executive director for the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project and a former Trump administration official, confirmed the accuracy of the chat logs. Screenshots of the discussion were also provided to The Intercept by SiegedSec.
The conversation began with Howell questioning why SiegedSec had targeted the Heritage Foundation. In response, one of SiegedSec’s leaders, known as “vio,” explained that their goal was to shed light on the supporters of the Heritage Foundation and their opposition to Project 2025. They emphasized that they were not seeking money or fame, but rather wanted to make a statement against the foundation’s values.
SiegedSec claimed that their recent release of a small cache of Heritage Foundation files was part of a larger campaign against organizations that oppose transgender rights. However, a spokesperson for the Heritage Foundation stated that their own systems were not breached and that SiegedSec had stumbled upon an old archive of the Daily Signal website that was publicly available.
Noah Weinrich, the Heritage Foundation’s public relations director, dismissed the idea of a hack and referred to SiegedSec as a group of criminal trolls seeking attention. Despite this, Howell informed vio that the Heritage Foundation was collaborating with the FBI to identify members of SiegedSec, potentially through an administrative subpoena known as a “2702 order.” Howell even included a screenshot of vio’s public bitcoin wallet.
In response to Howell’s threats and unprofessional language, vio threatened to dox Howell and share his comments widely. Howell encouraged vio to do so, using derogatory language to insult the furry community.
Shortly after posting the chat logs on their Telegram channel, SiegedSec announced their disbandment. They cited concerns about their mental health, the stress of mass publicity, and the desire to avoid further attention from the FBI.
The Heritage Foundation declined to comment on the exchange between SiegedSec and Howell.
