Interference of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Campaign with Iran: Comments on a Cyber Intrusion allegedly uncovered by a Russian Adviser
The FBI is investigating allegations that documents from the Trump campaign were stolen in a cyber intrusion days after the campaign claimed it had been hacked by Iran.
The claim comes a day after Microsoft issued a report detailing foreign agents’ attempts to interfere in the campaign in the U.S.
The Iranian military intelligence unit Mint Sandstorm compromised a former adviser’s account and sent an email to an American presidential campaign, according to the report.
Steven Cheung blamed the hack on foreign sources hostile to the United States. A spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement that it takes any report of improper foreign interference “extremely seriously” and condemns any government or entity that attempts to undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions, but said it deferred to the Justice Department on this matter.
The United States’ Justice Department has accused a Pakistani national with ties to Iran of planning assassination attempts against Trump and other politicians, as well as trying to hire undercover law enforcement officials to kill them. The court documents noted Iran had a desire to avenge the death of Soleimani.
“These documents were obtained illegally” and “intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said.
He pointed to the Microsoft report issued Friday and its conclusions that “Iranian hackers broke into the account of a ‘high ranking official’ on the U.S. presidential campaign in June 2024, which coincides with the close timing of President Trump’s selection of a vice presidential nominee.”
Cheung said that the Iranians are aware that President Trump will stop their reign of terror and warned that any media that reprints documents or internal communications is doing the bidding of America’s enemies.
Comments on “Phishing and Viruses in the Peculiar Domain” by the Campaign on Trump’s 2016 Campaign
Cheung did not immediately respond to questions about the campaign’s interactions with Microsoft on the matter. Microsoft said Saturday it had no comment beyond its blog post and Friday report.
“The phishing email contained a fake forward with a hyperlink that directs traffic through an actor-controlled domain before redirecting to the listed domain,” the report states.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported hacking or on the Democratic nominee’s cybersecurity protocols.
Politico reported Saturday that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an anonymous account. The source — an AOL email account identified only as “Robert” — passed along what appeared to be a research dossier the campaign had apparently done on the Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The document was dated Feb. 23, almost five months before Trump selected Vance as his running mate.
