Mike Honda sues opponent Ro Khanna, alleging his campaign manager committed Internet espionage

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The campaign to re-elect Congressman Mike Honda went to federal court Thursday, filing a lawsuit against chief rival Ro Khanna that alleges Internet espionage.

"There were hundreds of files that were exposed," one man said.

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With the November election looming, Honda's campaign is accusing rival Khanna of computer fraud and cyber harassment of Honda supporters. "The documents and files in question were located in a private campaign Drop Box account," Honda campaign spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

The allegations are included in a lawsuit filed by the Honda campaign in federal court against Khanna and his campaign manager Brian Parvizshahi. On Thursday, it was said that Parvizshahi will step down as campaign manager.

The lawsuit includes screen shots of Parvizshahi's digital signature as evidence that he has been illegally accessing Honda campaign data.

According to the filing, Parvizshahi initially gained access to the donor lists in 2012 when he worked as an intern for a consulting firm, then employed by Honda at the time.

"And then he joined the Khanna campaign in January 2014. And in the meantime, potentially thousands of supporters of the Honda campaign have been harassed by getting emails from a person they would least expect and not welcome, that is Mr. Khanna himself," Honda campaign attorney Gautam Dutta said.

Khanna's team released a statement to ABC7 News saying: "The fact that Mike Honda went to the press before serving us tells you what this is really about politics. Down in the polls six weeks before an election, it's clear Mike Honda will do and say anything to hold on to his seat."

Seeking his ninth term in congress, Honda has been the subject of a house ethics committee probe into whether he used taxpayer money for campaign purposes.

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