Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign claimed on Saturday that it had been hacked, with sensitive internal documents stolen and distributed. The campaign suggested that Iranian actors were involved in the breach, though no specific evidence was provided to support this claim.
The accusation follows a recent report by Microsoft, which detailed attempts by foreign agents to interfere in the 2024 US presidential campaign. The report cited an incident in June where an Iranian military intelligence unit allegedly sent a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign, using a compromised email account of a former senior advisor.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung blamed the hack on “foreign sources hostile to the United States”. The National Security Council responded, stating that it takes reports of foreign interference “extremely seriously” and condemns any attempts to undermine US democratic institutions. However, it deferred to the Justice Department for further investigation.
When asked about the Trump campaign’s allegations, Iran’s mission to the United Nations denied any involvement. “The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election,” the mission told The Associated Press.
Iran has long been suspected of conducting hacking campaigns against its adversaries, and tensions between the US and Iran have been high since the 2020 drone strike ordered by Trump that killed Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani.
The recent hack claim comes on the heels of the US Justice Department unsealing criminal charges against a Pakistani national with ties to Iran. The individual is alleged to have plotted assassination attempts against US political figures, including possibly Trump, in retaliation for Soleimani’s killing.
In its threat intelligence report, Microsoft stated that “foreign malign influence concerning the 2024 US election started off slowly but has steadily picked up pace over the last six months due initially to Russian operations, but more recently from Iranian activity”. Specifically, the report detailed that in June 2024, an Iranian military intelligence unit, Mint Sandstorm, sent a phishing email to an American presidential campaign via the compromised account of a former adviser.
“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.
(With inputs from Associated Press)