Spanish court authorises extradition of Briton who allegedly hacked Biden, Obama

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's High Court on Friday agreed to a U.S. extradition request for a British citizen wanted by the United States over a Twitter hack in 2020 that compromised the accounts of several U.S. politicians including Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

Joseph James O'Connor was arrested in July 2021 in the southern city of Estepona. The Spanish government still has to confirm the extradition. It usually complies with such High Court decisions though O'Connor could still appeal.

The High Court said the United States was in a better position to prosecute because that is where the evidence obtained in the investigation is located, as is any damage caused.

O'Connor had objected to his proposed extradition in a previous hearing in Madrid.

The July 2020 Twitter attack hijacked a variety of verified accounts, including those of then-Democratic presidential candidate Biden and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

The accounts of former President Barack Obama, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Benjamin Netanyahu, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg and Kayne West were also hit.

The alleged hacker used the accounts to solicit digital currency, prompting Twitter to prevent some verified accounts from publishing messages for several hours until security could be restored.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Emma Pinedo; Editing by David Holmes)

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