Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was hacked, with the exfiltration of internal communications attributed to Iranian operatives, according to a spokesperson on Saturday.
Politico first broke the story after receiving emails from an anonymous source containing the internal discussions. The campaign manager hinted at a Microsoft report suggesting Iranian operatives attempted to access an account of a former presidential candidate, though the company did not identify the individual.
“These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Politico.
The statement also referenced a new report from Microsoft indicating that Iranian hackers accessed the account of a “high-ranking official” on the U.S. presidential campaign in June 2024, around the time Trump selected his vice-presidential nominee.
The Trump campaign has not confirmed if it is in contact with Microsoft or law enforcement. The FBI acknowledged the reports but declined to comment, as did the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Trump’s presidency was previously embroiled in controversy due to the 2017 Justice Department investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Special Counsel Robert Mueller found that Trump and his allies had encouraged the hacking but did not have enough evidence to charge him criminally.
The hacking incident coincides with CNN reports that the Secret Service heightened security for Trump’s 2024 campaign following intelligence that Iran was plotting to assassinate the former president. However, no connection has been found between Iran and Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to kill Trump last month.
Chris Krebs, former director of CISA, commented on X, “Behold the Russification of Iranian info ops! A nasty business; expanding & diversifying attempts to further divide Americans and disrupt democracy.” Krebs was fired by Trump in 2020 for his role in debunking misinformation regarding voter fraud claims.
When asked about how the documents were obtained, the hacker known as “Robert” warned Politico, “I suggest you don’t be curious about where I got them from. Any answer to this question will compromise me and legally restrict you from publishing them.”
The stolen documents reportedly included an analysis of Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance.
The Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran, acting as Iran’s de facto representative in the U.S., did not respond to requests for comment.
Michael Kaiser, president and CEO of Defending Digital Campaigns, stressed the importance of cybersecurity for political campaigns, noting, “This should be a wakeup call to all campaigns large and small that they are targets of nation states, hacktivists, and cybercriminals.”
Jake Braun, former White House acting principal deputy national cyber director, added, “Unfortunately, this isn’t even the new normal. It’s just normal.”
Recent intelligence reports suggest that Iran may attempt influence operations in U.S. elections, as it has in the past.
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