Sept. 19 (UPI) — Iranian hackers stole sensitive information from the Trump campaign earlier this summer and emailed it to individuals affiliated with the Biden campaign, U.S. investigators revealed Wednesday.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and CISA released a statement saying the emails were sent in June and July and “contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign.”
The three agencies said while the emails were not solicited, it is unclear whether the Biden campaign read or used the information. President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on July 21.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, which replaced Biden, said Wednesday that it was “cooperating with the appropriate law enforcement authorities since we were made aware” of the stolen information.
Trump’s campaign was also quick to respond.
“This is further proof the Iranians are actively interfering in the election to help Kamala Harris and Joe Biden because they know President Trump will restore his tough sanctions and stand against their reign of terror,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign spokesperson, said in a statement.
“Kamala and Biden must come clean on whether they used the hacked material given to them by the Iranians to hurt President Trump. What did they know and when did they know it?” Leavitt added.
During his rally Wednesday night in New York, Trump accused Iran of foreign election interference.
“Iran hacked into my campaign. I don’t know what the hell they found. I’d like to find out. Couldn’t have been too exciting, but they gave it to the Biden campaign. I can’t believe it — oh, yes I can!” Trump told the crowd.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Iran is a major threat to U.S. election security as the Justice Department is reportedly preparing criminal charges related to the hack.
“They are trying to influence the presidential campaign, they are pushing out fake personas, pushing out propaganda and using the Gaza conflict almost as kerosene to stoke divisions,” Monaco warned.
In addition to sending the stolen Trump campaign documents to the Biden campaign, the hackers also sent them to media outlets, including Politico.
“The FBI has been tracking this activity, has been in contact with the victims and will continue to investigate and gather information in order to pursue and disrupt the threat actors responsible,” the agencies said, adding that Iran, Russia and China are “trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their own benefit, and see election periods as moments of vulnerability.”
