Former CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson is suing the U.S. Department of Justice for $35 million in damages, claiming the agency hacked her computers when she was reporting on Obama administration scandals.
Attkisson says she has "pretty good evidence," including results from three separate computer forensic exams, that hackers who accessed her computers between 2011 and 2013 were "connected" to the Justice Department, Fox News reported.
"I just think it's important to send a message that people shouldn't be victimized and throw up their hands and think there's nothing they can do and they're powerless," Attkisson told Fox News.
The lawsuit claims that intruders installed malware designed to steal data and passwords on Attkisson's home and work computers, also alleging that the hackers eavesdropped on her Skype account to hear what she was working on.
After filing a Freedom of Information request, Attkisson discovered that the FBI opened an investigation into the hacking case in May 2013, but she says she was never interviewed or even informed that the bureau was looking into the matter, reported Fox News.
The $35 million sought for damages relates to the privacy lost by her and her family, Attkisson said.
The Department of Justice has long denied any involvement in the incident, saying in 2013, "To our knowledge, the Justice Department has never compromised Ms. Attkisson's computers, or otherwise sought any information from or concerning any telephone, computer, or other media device she may own or use."
Attkisson resigned from CBS last March, claiming she was stonewalled and no longer able to get her investigative stories on the air, Fox reported.
