The hackers who are holding celebrity lawyer Allen Grubman’s clients’ data for ransom announced on Thursday night that they have another cache of material to release. REvil, the group behind the breach of Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks that was confirmed on Monday, said that it’s doubling its price to $42 million and has a seemingly unrelated target in sight. “The next person we’ll be publishing is Donald Trump,” the hackers wrote in a new post. “There’s an election going on, and we found a ton of dirty laundry.”
Page Six reported the update and noted that Trump hasn’t been a client of Grubman’s so far as anyone can tell, and Business Insider pointed out that Grubman has donated to Democratic campaigns. It’s unclear why Grubman and company would be more incentivized to pay up in order to protect information on Trump, barring a previously unknown connection between the two. (Plus, it’s not like there’s a shortage of existing Trump dirt already out there—it just never seems to do anything.)
“Mr Trump, if you want to stay president, poke a sharp stick at the guys, otherwise you may forget this ambition forever,” REvil continued. “And to you voters, we can let you know that after such a publication, you certainly don’t want to see him as president…The deadline is one week.
“Grubman, we will destroy your company down to the ground if we don’t see the money,” the group added.
REvil has already released some of the firm’s documents, according to Page Six, and a source told the tabloid that Grubman’s “view is, if he paid, the hackers might release the documents anyway. Plus, the FBI has stated this hack is considered an act of international terrorism, and we don’t negotiate with terrorists.” Ransomware attacks are common enough, although they typically operate at a lower key than this bout concerning Grubman’s clients like Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga, and there’s generally not a great way out.
In a statement to Page Six, the firm said, “We have been informed by the experts and the FBI that negotiating with or paying ransom to terrorists is a violation of federal criminal law. Even when enormous ransoms have been paid, the criminals often leak the documents anyway.” None of Grubman’s high-profile clients have commented yet.
More Great Stories From Vanity Fair
— Prince Harry’s Quarantine Lament: The Ex-Royal Is Reportedly Feeling a Little Sad in L.A.
— Astronaut Jessica Meir Returns Home to a “Completely Different Planet”
— Can a New Book Finally Settle the Feud Rumors Between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton?
— This Is What Swedish Chefs Learned While Keeping Their Restaurants Open in the Pandemic
— Even Stephen King Thinks We’re Living in a Stephen King Book
— A Pandemic Won’t Kill the Open Office, but Slack Could
— From the Archive: The Lonely Heir, an Inside Look at Prince Charles’s Childhood
Looking for more? Sign up for our daily newsletter and never miss a story.