Former Ryan campaign intern charged with nude picture blackmail scheme
Adam Savader allegedly threatened to publish nude pictures of 15 women unless they sent him more pictures
By Jillian RayfieldTopics: Paul Ryan, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, 2012 Elections, Republicans, Adam Savader, Politics News
Adam Savader, a former campaign intern to Paul Ryan and Newt Gingrich, was arrested and charged with “Internet extortion and cyber stalking,” for an alleged scheme to blackmail women with naked pictures of themselves.
From the FBI’s press release on the arrest:
According to the affidavit, from May 2012 through February 2013, Adam Paul Savader sent anonymous text messages using Google Voice numbers to 15 women stating that he had nude photographs of the women and threatening to distribute the nude photographs to the women’s friends and family members unless the women sent him more nude photographs of themselves. Savader sent some of the victims links to a photo-sharing website where nude pictures of the victims had been posted.
From the New York Daily News:
In one instance, the criminal complaint said, Savader threatened to send naked pictures of one of his victims to the Republican National Committee if she didn’t comply with his demands. She sometimes got as many as eight threatening texts a day, the document said.
Other texts to women are increasingly threatening and explicit, the complaint said, including one sent in October that said, “Do it from ur phone RIGHT NOW! I swear to God don’t be stupid. U don’t want every1 including your parents seeing your t–s (and) ass.”
If convicted, Savader faces up to five years in prison, according to the FBI’s release.
The New York Daily News reports that Savader was a political science student at the State University of New York at Farmingdale. The NYDN also posted pictures, reportedly from his Facebook page, of Savader posing with Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and Newt and Calista Gingrich. On what is reportedly his Twitter account, Savader describes himself as “American Patriot. Reagan Republican. Formerly @PRyan’s sole intern on @MittRomney’s campaign and a @newtgingrich campaign staffer.”
Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.
Related Stories
More Related Stories
-
Would we give up burgers to stop climate change?
-
Meet the pro-austerity hypocrites
-
NRA is getting a new president
-
House GOPer: Romney was the kid who couldn't explain his science project
-
Predictions for tomorrow's jobs report
-
Hacker steals sensitive infrastructure data from U.S. military
-
"This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann"
-
Drone victim: U.S. strikes boost al-Qaida recruitment
-
California's disappearing health care reform
-
Poll: Background checks vote could improve Dems' 2014 chances
-
Maryland bans the death penalty
-
Why conservatives should support immigration equality
-
Americans to government: Hands off our civil liberties
-
Hillary Clinton is still the clear favorite in a potential Dem primary
-
U.S. citizen sentenced to 15 years hard labor in North Korea
-
Audit finds Scott Walker's job creation agency repeatedly broke law
-
Peace Corps volunteer's hellish abortion story
-
U.S. reportedly moving toward arming Syrian rebels
-
Turns out much-hyped settlement still allows banks to steal homes
-
Howard Kurtz comes out as illiterate
-
Peter King: "I wouldn't want to be involving New York with Ted Cruz"
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
-
This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
Reuters/Jason Reed -
Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
AP/A.M. Ahad -
Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
AP/Elise Amendola -
Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani -
Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
AP/Manish Swarup -
Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
AP/Jeff Roberson -
Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel -
Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
AP/Liu Yinghua -
On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
AP/Rogelio V. Solis -
The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
AP/David J. Phillip -
Recent Slide Shows
-
The week in 10 pics
-
"Arrested Development" character posters
-
Photos of the Boston manhunt
-
Newspaper headlines covering the Boston explosion
-
- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
Related Videos
Most Read
-
71 names so awful New Zealand had to ban them
Kyle Kim, GlobalPost
-
"This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann"
Alex Seitz-Wald
-
He made me his drug mule
Alix Wall
-
Ted Cruz will never be president
Joan Walsh
-
Claire Messud to Publishers Weekly: "What kind of question is that?"
David Daley
-
Pictures of people who mock me
Haley Morris-Cafiero
-
Is Michael Pollan a sexist pig?
Emily Matchar
-
How conspiracists think
Sander van der Linden, Scientific American
-
Bush cancels Europe trip amid calls for his arrest
Justin Elliott
-
"Star Trek's" Wil Wheaton tells newborn girl why being a nerd "is awesome"
Prachi Gupta
Popular on Reddit
links from salon.com
From Around the Web
Presented by Scribol
-
Rita F. Pierson: WATCH: The Reason Your Elementary School Teacher Matters -
GOP Rep Uses Embarrassing Analogy On Mitt Romney -
John McCain Gets Unexpected Surprise -
Report: North Korea Working Toward Striking U.S. With Nukes - AlaskaDispatch.com: Disgraced Senate Aide Moves from Federal Prison to Federal Fisheries Lobbyist
-
Ken Cuccinelli Once Filed An Amendment To Change Virginia's State Song To The Beatles' "Taxman" -
Masters Of The Universe: Lawmakers Obsess Over Threats From Space -
Commerce Appointment Opens A New White House Rift - Who Said It: Terry McAuliffe Or A Character From "House Of Cards"?
- State Department Unsure Of Status Of Saudi Diplomat In Alleged Trafficking Investigation




Comments
10 Comments