Three federal agencies say that Iran has tried to send the stolen Trump data since June to media organizations and the Biden campaign.
The FBI on Wednesday confirmed that Iran-backed hackers targeted former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and tried to deliver that information to President Joe Biden’s campaign earlier this year.
The incident occurred over the summer, the FBI, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said in a statement.
Timeline
Iranian hackers in late June and early July sent what the agencies described as “unsolicited emails” to people associated with the Biden campaign. This came weeks before Biden announced in a statement that he was suspending his reelection bid before backing Vice President Kamala Harris, his then-running mate. The emails contained non-public information that was stolen from the Trump campaign.
The FBI and the other agencies said that Iran has tried to send the stolen Trump data since June to media organizations.
In August, the agencies said that Iran had launched a multifaceted approach to influence the U.S. election and sow discord among the American electorate.
“Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as we approach” the November election, the Wednesday joint statement said, adding that China and Russia are also trying to “exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their own benefit.”
Also in August, software giant Microsoft said that Iran-backed hackers were targeting a high-ranking official of a U.S. presidential campaign using a phishing attack. Microsoft did not name which presidential campaign was targeted.
Google’s researchers said that same month that Iranian-sponsored hackers targeted the Biden and Trump campaigns in phishing attacks.
Since January 2020, the Iranian regime has issued threatening statements against the then-Trump administration following its order of the drone strike that killed Iranian official Qassem Soleimani.
Biden Campaign Wasn’t Interested, US Says
The FBI, CISA, and the ODNI said the Biden campaign wasn’t interested in the hacked Trump materials.
There is no evidence that any Biden campaign officials responded, according to their joint statement.
