Iranian authorities took a fresh swipe at US President Donald Trump and his FBI Director on Friday — sharing a fake video of Kash Patel ‘dancing’ to Bollywood music. The clip had gone viral earlier this week after hackers linked to Tehran broke into his personal email account and shared several controversial photos and documents.
“Warning to all US officials: The only person in the US government who has the right to dance is Trump,” the Iran Embassy in Zimbabwe jibed.
“It is violation on human rights,” the official handle added in response to a a comment.
It shared a photo of the FBI Director alongside the fake video. The clip in question features a man who looks vaguely similar to Patel dancing to a Hindi song as people cheer off camera. He is dressed casually, and the video appears to have been filmed in a home setting.
Iran-linked hackers break into FBI Director’s inbox
A group called Handala Hack Team had broken into his inbox last week and said Patel would “now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims.” They published a series of personal photographs of the FBI chief sniffing and smoking cigars, riding in an antique convertible, and making a face while taking a picture of himself in the mirror with a large bottle of rum. The hackers also published a sample of more than 300 emails, which appear to show a mix of personal and work correspondence dating between 2010 and 2019.
The FBI subsequently confirmed that Patel’s accounts had indeed been hacked. In a statement, bureau spokesman Ben Williamson said, “we have taken all necessary steps to mitigate potential risks associated with this activity” and that the data involved was “historical in nature and involves no government information.”