(NewsNation) — Iranian hackers obtained and sent stolen information from former President Donald Trump’s campaign and sent it to people affiliated with President Joe Biden’s campaign in an effort to disrupt the 2024 election, U.S. intelligence officials confirmed, substantiating claims made by Trump’s campaign last month.
Federal agencies, including the FBI, have disclosed that Iran gained possession of sensitive campaign information tied to Trump’s reelection campaign and sent it to people with ties to Biden’s campaign, as well as to several American news agencies.
On August 10, the Trump campaign announced it had been hacked, claiming Iranian actors had stolen sensitive campaign materials. On Wednesday, U.S. intelligence officials announced their findings, which seem to confirm the Trump campaign’s allegations it had been hacked.
Officials said the Iranian hackers are continuing to share the sensitive information with American media outlets, raising concerns among the intelligence community regarding foreign influences on U.S. elections.
“Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Biden’s campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails,” officials from the FBI, U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a joint statement issued Wednesday.
The campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris has publicly condemned the data breach, saying the campaign was never directly sent any hacked materials and that emails were ignored as spam by campaign staffers. The hacking activity took place before Biden ended his campaign for a second term in the White House, officials said.
According to several reports, at least three U.S. news organizations received hacked materials, including Politico, The New York Times and Washington Post. However, intelligence officials said none of the media outlets published what they were sent.
The Associated Press reported that none of the organizations were willing to reveal what materials they received.
However, Trump has continued to claim the White House is colluding with Iran to interfere with the November election, which remains a neck and neck race between Trump and Harris.
“Biden is working with Iran, and Iran doesn’t exactly like me,” Trump said. “They were ready to make a deal, except we had an election that was rigged and stolen. And look at what’s happening to our world now. But no, Iran hacked into my campaign.”
“But they gave it to the Biden campaign. I can’t believe it,” Trump continued. “Oh yes, I can. But this is really foreign election interference, this is real election interference. Not the phony crap they’ve been trying to pin on me.”
On Wednesday, U.S. intelligence officials said the attacks are Iran’s “multi-pronged approach” to undermine democracy and said it is in retaliation for the death of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who was assassinated during Trump’s term in the White House.
The hacks are likely to escalate tensions between the U.S. and Iran and raise questions about the United States’ election security as voters prepare to go to the polls in November.
