The FBI, along with other intelligence agencies, revealed on Wednesday that Iran had disseminated information stolen from former President Trump’s campaign to both the Biden campaign and various media outlets.
According to a joint statement from the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Iranian hackers sent unsolicited emails to individuals linked to President Joe Biden’s campaign, containing excerpts of sensitive, non-public material from Trump’s campaign since June.
“Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Biden’s campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails,” the agencies stated.
The agencies emphasized that there is no evidence indicating that the recipients responded to these emails. Despite this, Iranian cyber operatives have continued their attempts to share stolen, confidential material from Trump’s campaign with U.S. media organizations since June.
While it’s not clear if any of the leaked information has been published, the agencies noted that these actions are part of Iran’s broader effort to “stoke discord and undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral process.” The Iranian government, which has previously denied involvement in such cyber activities, has yet to respond to these allegations, according to The Hill.
The Trump campaign announced in August that a foreign entity had hacked its internal communications, citing a Microsoft report. This report indicated that hackers connected to the Iranian armed forces targeted a senior official from a presidential campaign with a spear-phishing email in June. By late July, these Iranian hackers had begun leaking the stolen data to Politico, according to the outlet.
Key Trump campaign figures, including senior advisor Susie Wiles, were identified as targets of the Iranian hacking efforts, The Washington Post reported. The FBI also confirmed that Iran attempted, but failed, to breach the Biden-Harris campaign, The Hill reported.
In a press briefing, the ODNI stated that Iran has increased its efforts to influence the U.S. election, employing tactics such as disseminating disinformation on social media and attempting to deepen societal divisions. The FBI, ODNI, and CISA did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
