The campaign of former President Donald Trump said Saturday that it had been hacked in June by an Iranian group.
As reported by NBC News, the announcement comes one day after Microsoft reported that an Iranian organization connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent a phishing email to a high-ranking official in a presidential campaign. However, the tech company did not identify which campaign was targeted.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said the hack "coincides with the close timing of President Trump's selection of a Vice Presidential nominee." He accused the Iranians of attempting to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos in the democratic process. The FBI said it was aware of the reports but declined to comment further.
The leaked data notably included details about various vice-presidential candidates, with an intensive focus on JD Vance. These leaked dossiers were rich with strategic analysis intended for internal use within the campaign, shedding light on the meticulous selection process undertaken by Trump's team.
A report by Microsoft pinpointed the breach's origin, tying it to a spear-phishing campaign orchestrated by a group known to be part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). However, the report stopped short of directly attributing the breach to Trump's campaign, instead mentioning a generic "high-ranking official in a presidential campaign."
The campaign was stunned by the boldness of the attack, which Steven Cheung described as a severe interference effort by foreign entities aiming to influence the U.S. election cycle.
Despite Iran's denial, the FBI has taken note of the incident but has remained tight-lipped, offering no further details or public confirmations regarding the ongoing situation.
How Politico came to acquire these documents remains shrouded in mystery. The source of the leaks communicated through emails and provided Politico staff with a stern caution against enquiring into the authenticity or source of these documents, which further complicates an already intricate narrative.
Following the discovery, Trump campaign officials, including Cheung, called out the intrusion as a meddlesome act designed to sabotage Trump's electoral prospects. Further, Cheung harshly criticized the media outlets circulating the stolen documents.
Steven Cheung delivered a scathing message arguing that media disseminating these materials were inadvertently acting as vehicles for foreign adversaries: "These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process," he elucidated.
Furthermore, Cheung argued, "The Iranians know that President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House. Any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications is doing the bidding of America's enemies and doing exactly what they want."
In closing, these developments underscore a growing concern about cybersecurity in political campaigns, with implications for national security and the sanctity of the democratic electoral process. The Trump campaign continues to probe the breach, assisted by federal authorities, while they brace for the potential fallout as the 2024 election season inches closer.
