Inside the bizarre harassment scheme that’s sending former EBay execs to prison

James Baugh, former senior director of safety and security at EBay, arrives for his sentencing in a harassment case at federal court in Boston on Thursday. David Steiner, who along with his wife was the target of the harassment campaign, told the court that James Baugh, EBay’s former senior director of safety and security, and other EBay employees made their lives “a living hell.” He expressed fear that other companies would use it as a blueprint to go after journalists in the future. That executive sent Wenig’s message to Baugh and called Ina Steiner a “biased troll who needs to get BURNED DOWN.” Soon, Ina Steiner began receiving harassing and sometimes threatening Twitter messages. Authorities portrayed Baugh as the mastermind of the scheme and said he directed EBay employees to use prepaid debit cards, disguises and overseas email accounts to hide the company’s involvement. They described Baugh as a “tool” who was used by EBay and then discarded when “an army of outside lawyers descended to conduct an ‘internal investigation’ aimed at saving the company and its top executives from prosecution.” Wenig, who stepped down as chief executive in 2019, was not criminally charged in the case but faces a civil lawsuit from the couple.