SiegedSec, a collective of self-proclaimed “gay furry hackers” that targeted the conservative Heritage Foundation to protest Project 2025, has posted chat logs between one of its hackers and a Heritage executive, Mike Howell. In a conversation over the messaging app Signal, Howell said the Heritage Foundation was “in the process of identifying and outting [sic] members of your group” and working with the FBI.
“Closeted Furries will be presented to the world for the degenerate perverts they are,” Howell told one of SiegedSec’s leaders, who goes by the handle “vio.” “Your means are miniscule compared to mine. You now can either turn yourself in or you can cooperate.”
Howell, who confirmed the chat logs were accurate to the Daily Dot, is the executive director for the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project and a former Trump administration official. SiegedSec also provided screenshots of the discussion to The Intercept.
Howell started the conversation with questions about why SiegedSec targeted the Heritage Foundation. “What is that you are seeking or threatening?” he asked vio.
“We want to make a message and shine light on who exactly supports the Heritage Foundation,” vio responded. “We dont [sic] want anything more than that, not money and not fame. We’re strongly against Project 2025 and everything the Heritage Foundation stands for.”
When it posted a small cache of Heritage Foundation files on Tuesday, SiegedSec said it was part of a campaign against organizations that oppose trans rights. On Wednesday, a Heritage spokesperson told The Intercept that the foundation’s own systems were not breached, and that SiegedSec “stumbled upon a two-year-old archive of the Daily Signal website that was available on a public-facing website owned by a contractor.”
“The story of a ‘hack’ is a false narrative and exaggeration by a group of criminal trolls trying to get attention,” said Noah Weinrich, the Heritage Foundation’s public relations director.
Hack or not, Howell told vio that the Heritage Foundation was working with the FBI to identify the members of SiegedSec, including through a “2702 order,” likely a reference to a type of administrative subpoena. Howell included a screenshot of vio’s public bitcoin wallet.
“Are you aware that you won’t be able to wear a furry tiger costume when you’re getting pounded in the ass in the federal prison I put you in next year?” Howell wrote.
When vio threatened to dox Howell and share such “unprofessional language from an executive director,” Howell pushed it further. “Please share widely,” Howell wrote. “I hope the word spreads as fast as the STDs do in your degenerate furry community.”
An hour after posting the chat logs on its Telegram channel, SiegedSec announced it was disbanding “for our own mental health, the stress of mass publicity, and to avoid the eye of the FBI.”
The Heritage Foundation declined to comment about the exchange between SiegedSec and Howell.