Lieberman and spam, 2006

So what was really going on? Well, the technical basis for this is that when you code up a web form, it is absolutely crucial that you validate the input that the users type into the fields. Entering well crafted, hostile data into a form is a standard trick of spammers and crackers; it's also how SQL injection attacks are done, for example. If you have, say, a web form that turns around and sends an email, an attacker could in theory jam an entire email header into the "your email address" box on the form and coerce the server's mail subsystem into doing something other than what it should. Is this common? It sure is, spammers try it all the time. Does it work? Whenever a naive developer deploys a vulnerable web form, sure, it can work. The spammer needs to show some restraint; as with any parasite, if the host is killed, the infestation is not really a success.
So then, in this scenario, a spammer found a vulnerable form on the Lieberman 2006 web site, and started injecting spam. They did not show restraint, and overwhelmed the system. It'd take an inept spammer (but then, there are plenty of those, too.)
But there is an alternative explanation which is also consistent with these facts. Someone looking to take Lieberman's site down who found the botched form might have put on a spammer disguise and launched a well timed attack.
Which do I think is true? I honestly don't have a clue; I don't have nearly enough information on what happened. I'll be looking forward to hearing more about this.