On Wednesday, U.S. authorities accused Iranian hackers of sending stolen information from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to President Joe Biden’s campaign team and to journalists. This operation, which took place during the summer, seemed aimed at tricking Biden’s campaign staff into responding to spearphishing emails. This could have allowed the hackers to access emails and computer systems of the Biden campaign using material taken from Trump’s campaign.
Investigators found no evidence that anyone from Biden’s campaign replied to the emails, according to a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security.
The emails were sent in June and July, before Biden dropped out of the race. Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, stated that this incident shows Iran is trying to interfere in the election to support Kamala Harris and Biden, knowing that President Trump would enforce tougher sanctions against Iran.
Biden and Trump administrations have imposed sanctions on Iran. The Harris campaign responded by saying they were not aware of any materials being sent directly to their campaign, noting that some individuals were targeted on their personal emails, which appeared to be spam or phishing attempts.
Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations dismissed the allegations as “fundamentally unsound” and claimed the U.S. had not provided any evidence of the hacking.
U.S. authorities are increasing their efforts to combat foreign influence and interference before the November election, focusing especially on Russia, Iran, and China. These allegations follow an FBI inquiry that became public last month after Microsoft reported attempts by the Iranian government to access the email accounts of campaign staff members.
