OP 30 September, 2024 - 01:53 AM
The Justice Department is preparing criminal charges in connection with an Iranian hack that targeted Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in an attempt to influence the outcome of the November election, two people familiar with the matter said Thursday.
The prospect of criminal charges comes as the Justice Department has raised alarm about aggressive efforts by countries including Russia and Iran to interfere in the presidential election between Trump and Democratic challenger Kamala Harris, including through hacking and covert social media campaigns aimed at shaping public opinion.
The Trump campaign disclosed on Aug. 10 that it had been hacked and said Iranian operatives had stolen and distributed confidential internal documents. At least three news outlets — Politico, the New York Times and the Washington Post — have leaked confidential materials from the Trump campaign. So far, each has declined to disclose any details about what it received.
Politico reported that it began receiving emails from an anonymous account on July 22. The source — an AOL email account identified only as “Robert” — leaked what appeared to be a dossier on Republican vice presidential nominee Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance that appeared to have been prepared by the campaign. The document was dated Feb. 23, nearly five months before Trump chose Vance as his running mate.
The FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency subsequently blamed Iran for the hack, as well as for trying to hack the Biden-Harris campaign.
The prospect of criminal charges comes as the Justice Department has raised alarm about aggressive efforts by countries including Russia and Iran to interfere in the presidential election between Trump and Democratic challenger Kamala Harris, including through hacking and covert social media campaigns aimed at shaping public opinion.
The Trump campaign disclosed on Aug. 10 that it had been hacked and said Iranian operatives had stolen and distributed confidential internal documents. At least three news outlets — Politico, the New York Times and the Washington Post — have leaked confidential materials from the Trump campaign. So far, each has declined to disclose any details about what it received.
Politico reported that it began receiving emails from an anonymous account on July 22. The source — an AOL email account identified only as “Robert” — leaked what appeared to be a dossier on Republican vice presidential nominee Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance that appeared to have been prepared by the campaign. The document was dated Feb. 23, nearly five months before Trump chose Vance as his running mate.
The FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency subsequently blamed Iran for the hack, as well as for trying to hack the Biden-Harris campaign.
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