During the summer, Iranian cyber actors targeted individuals involved in President Joe Biden's re-election campaign, sending emails that contained stolen material from Donald Trump's presidential campaign, according to a statement from U.S. agencies on Wednesday.
Additionally, these Iranian malicious actors have reportedly continued their activities since June, distributing stolen, confidential material related to Trump’s campaign to U.S. media outlets, according to a joint statement by the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
No further information was shared regarding the nature of the stolen content.
Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: “WOW, JUST OUT! The FBI caught Iran spying on my campaign and handing over all the information to the Kamala Harris campaign. This means she and her campaign were illegally spying on me. This will be known as the IRAN, IRAN, IRAN CASE! Will Kamala resign in disgrace from politics? Will the Communist left pick a new candidate to replace her?”
Iran has previously denied involvement in U.S. election interference.
Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
In August, the U.S. accused Iran of engaging in cyber operations aimed at both U.S. presidential candidates and attempting to influence the American public by exacerbating political divisions.
According to Wednesday’s statement, unsolicited emails were sent in late June and early July to Biden campaign personnel, containing excerpts from the stolen Trump campaign material embedded in the messages.
Biden withdrew from the presidential race on July 21, and Vice President Kamala Harris was named the new Democratic candidate.
The Trump campaign, in response, called on Harris and Biden to reveal whether they had used the stolen material "to harm" Trump’s candidacy.
A Harris campaign spokesperson said in a statement, "We’re not aware of any material being sent directly to the campaign. A few individuals were targeted on their personal emails with what appeared to be spam or phishing attempts."
With inputs from agencies
Additionally, these Iranian malicious actors have reportedly continued their activities since June, distributing stolen, confidential material related to Trump’s campaign to U.S. media outlets, according to a joint statement by the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
No further information was shared regarding the nature of the stolen content.
Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: “WOW, JUST OUT! The FBI caught Iran spying on my campaign and handing over all the information to the Kamala Harris campaign. This means she and her campaign were illegally spying on me. This will be known as the IRAN, IRAN, IRAN CASE! Will Kamala resign in disgrace from politics? Will the Communist left pick a new candidate to replace her?”
Iran has previously denied involvement in U.S. election interference.
Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
In August, the U.S. accused Iran of engaging in cyber operations aimed at both U.S. presidential candidates and attempting to influence the American public by exacerbating political divisions.
According to Wednesday’s statement, unsolicited emails were sent in late June and early July to Biden campaign personnel, containing excerpts from the stolen Trump campaign material embedded in the messages.
Biden withdrew from the presidential race on July 21, and Vice President Kamala Harris was named the new Democratic candidate.
The Trump campaign, in response, called on Harris and Biden to reveal whether they had used the stolen material "to harm" Trump’s candidacy.
A Harris campaign spokesperson said in a statement, "We’re not aware of any material being sent directly to the campaign. A few individuals were targeted on their personal emails with what appeared to be spam or phishing attempts."
With inputs from agencies
