“Malicious cyber actors” from Iran dangled sensitive material about former President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign in front of President Joe Biden’s campaign team, according to U.S. authorities.
Three federal agencies said Wednesday that the “stolen, non-public” information was emailed to journalists as well as individuals “associated with the Biden campaign.” The operation took place over June and July this year, before the president suspended his White House bid.
“There is currently no information indicating those recipients replied,” read a joint statement from the FBI, CISA, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
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The hackers “have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump's campaign to U.S. media organizations,” the statement continued.
The Trump campaign said in a statement to CNN that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “must come clean on whether they used the hacked material,” claiming the operation marks “further proof the Iranians are actively interfering in the election” to help the Democratic Party.
“What did they know and when did they know it?” a spokeswoman asked the BBC.
In a late-night all-caps Truth Social post, Trump accused Harris and her campaign of “illegally spying” on him. “To be known as the Iran, Iran, Iran case!” he fumed. “Will Kamala resign in disgrace from politics? Will the Communist Left pick a new candidate to replace her?”
A spokesperson for the Harris campaign acknowledged to CNN that “a few individuals were targeted on their personal emails” with material that appeared to be “a spam or phishing attempt.” The campaign has cooperated with law enforcement as it investigated the matter.
“We condemn in the strongest terms any effort by foreign actors to interfere in U.S. elections including this unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity,” the spokesperson added.
The three federal agencies first publicly linked the hacking attempt to Tehran last month, warning that it was just one of the ways Iran was hoping to “stoke discord” ahead of the November election.
Both the Trump and Biden administrations have previously imposed sanctions on Iran.
