Blumenthal’s office probing potential ‘bot’ attack

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and his staff on Friday were investigating what they believe is an anonymous Internet attack involving a women who says she was harassed and assaulted when Blumenthal was U.S. attorney nearly 40 yuears ago. less U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and his staff on Friday were investigating what they believe is an anonymous Internet attack involving a women who says she was harassed and assaulted when Blumenthal was U.S. ... more Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Blumenthal’s office probing potential ‘bot’ attack 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

As charges of sexual improprieties shake the landscape around entertainment and politics, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and his staff on Friday were investigating what they believe is a hoax by an internet troll involving a woman who says she was harassed and assaulted when he was U.S. attorney nearly 40 years ago.

“These allegations are completely and unequivocally false. We are looking into the origins of these untrue claims,” said Maria McElwain, Blumenthal’s communications director.

Someone, possibly using a web robot and calling themselves “Linda Flores” of Cheshire, claimed Blumenthal assaulted her when she was a summer intern in 1979. Blumenthal was U.S. Attorney from 1977 until 1981. He went on to the state Senate and then became the state’s longtime attorney general before winning the U.S. Senate seat.

In response to a request for an interview Friday, “Flores” in an email, declined to talk. During the afternoon, photos of her were changing and disappearing on her Twitter account, which was locked from the public later in the afternoon — and then suspended by Twitter.

In an email to The New Haven Register, part of Hearst Connecticut Media, Flores said she grew up in Cheshire and her father was able to arrange an unpaid internship in the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Haven. The email, containing misspellings and poor grammar, described a workplace atmosphere that led to her assault.

“I was 19, & haven’t recovered since -- it’s now been 38 years.....I had the summer off & since I was planning on entering the law field I wanted to intern with some high up legal firms. Using my father’s connections I was able to obtain a free of pay intern slot at the US Attorneys office in New haven CT. What was supposed to be a dream & a stepping stone towards a bright future turned into a nightmare because of the attorney I was “apprenticing by”, his name was Richard Blumenthal known at the time as richy. I was silent & my life was ruined there’s no doubt to me I could have prevented the assaults that probably occurred to future female coworkers of Richard”

Photo: Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo Twitter account that Sen. Richard Blumenthals office identified...

The mysterious accusation comes at a time of increased awareness concerning workplace harassment and assault, with numerous women and men claiming that powerful, high-profile men — from movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, to actor Kevin Spacey, Roy Moore, the Senate candidate from Alabama, and most recently Senator Al Franken of Minnesota — had taken advantage of them.

Internet web robot, called or “bots,” are automated software programmed to perform tasks at high rates of speed with near anonymity.

Bots that were traced to Russian sources were involved in millions of Internet attacks on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton last year.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT