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Iranian cyberattackers on Thursday offered “stolen, non-public” material from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign to staff for his then White House rival, Joe Biden, the US authorities said.
According to the US intelligence and law enforcement agencies, the hackers “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.”
Recall that Biden was at the time the Democratic presidential nominee, before stepping aside in July and endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris.
The joint statement from the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency disclosed that none of Biden’s campaign staff replied to the emails.
In August, the same agencies first attributed the hack to Iran, accusing Tehran of seeking to influence the 2024 election. Iran denies the allegations.
“Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities” as Election Day in November approaches, the US statement said, singling out Russia, Iran and China as “trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in US society for their own benefit.”
The US agencies said the Iranian hackers had also attempted to share the information stolen from the Trump campaign with US media organizations although, the outlets involved were not disclosed.
On Wednesday, the Iranian mission to the United Nations vehemently denied the allegations.
“Already devoid of any credibility and legitimacy, such allegations are fundamentally unfounded, and wholly inadmissible,” it said in a statement.
“Iran neither has any motive nor intent to interfere in the U.S. election; and, it therefore categorically repudiates such accusations.”
The United States goes to the polls on November 5, with both the Trump and Harris campaigns saying they have been targeted by cyberattacks in recent weeks.
-Trump team reacts-
In a swift move, Trump’s campaign attributed the plot against Tehran as “proof the Iranians are actively interfering in the election to help Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.”
Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this was “because they know President Trump will restore his tough sanctions and stand against their reign of terror.”
In 2016, a hack of Democratic National Committee emails — blamed on Russians — exposed internal party communications, including about candidate Hillary Clinton.
Trump, who would go on to win that election, was criticized for encouraging the hack.
AFP.
