NEW YORK — Details emerged this weekend about a suspected iranian cyber intrusion in the campaign of the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trumpwhich could potentially lead to theft of internal campaign documents.
The FBI is to investigate the matter as well as attempts to infiltrate President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, which Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign after Biden withdrew from the race.
Here’s what we know:
Trump’s presidential campaign said Saturday it had been hacked and sensitive internal documents stolen and distributed, blaming Iranian actors.
Same day, Politico revealed had received it leaked internal Trump campaign documents via email, from a person identified only as “Robert.” The outlet said the documents included screening material on Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance and Sen. Marco Rubio, who was also considered a potential vice president.
Two other news sources, The New York Times and The Washington Post, also said they had received leaked materials. Neither provided details about what they had, but described the documents in general terms.
It remains unclear whether the materials the news organizations received were related to Trump’s alleged campaign hack. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung indicated they were connected, saying the documents were “illegally obtained” and warning that “any media or news organization that reprints documents or internal communications is doing the work of America’s enemies and doing exactly what they want.”
The FBI confirmed Monday that it is investigating the Trump campaign breach. Two people familiar with the matter said the FBI is also investigating attempts to gain access to the Biden-Harris campaign.
Trump’s campaign did not provide specific evidence that Iran was behind the hack. But it did point to a Microsoft Report A document was released on Friday detailing an attempt by Iran to infiltrate a presidential campaign in June.
Microsoft’s report said that an Iranian military intelligence agency “sent a spear-phishing email to a senior presidential campaign official from a compromised email account belonging to a former senior adviser.” Spear-phishing is a form of cyberattack in which an attacker poses as a known or trusted sender, often to install malware or gather sensitive information.
The tech company would not identify which campaign or adviser was targeted, but said it had notified them. Since then, both Trump and a longtime friend and adviser to the former president, Roger Stone, have said they were contacted by Microsoft about suspected cyber intrusions.
“Microsoft Corporation just informed us that one of our many websites has been hacked by the Iranian government. That’s never fun!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.
Grant Smith, an attorney for Stone, said his client “has been contacted by Microsoft and the FBI about this matter and continues to cooperate with those organizations.” He declined to comment further.
U.S. State Department officials declined to speculate on allegations that Iran was behind the hack, but a spokesman said it would be consistent with Tehran’s past use of cyberattacks and deception.
“These latest attempts to interfere in the US elections are nothing new for the Iranian regime,” spokesman Vedant Patel said Monday.
US intelligence agencies declined to comment on the incident, referring questions to the FBI, which said only that it was investigating the matter.
When asked about the Trump campaign’s claims, Iran’s mission to the United Nations denied any involvement.
“We do not give any credence to such reports,” the mission told The Associated Press. “The Iranian government has no intention or motive to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.”
Iran, however, has long been suspected of hacking campaigns targeting its enemies in the Middle East and beyond. Tehran has also threatened retaliation against Trump over the 2020 drone strike he ordered that killed prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
Harris’ campaign has declined to say whether any state-intrusion attempts have been identified, saying only that they are closely monitoring cyber threats and are not aware of any security breaches of their systems.
But two people familiar with the matter said the Biden-Harris campaign was also targeted in the suspected Iranian cyber intrusion. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details of the investigation.
At least three Biden-Harris campaign staffers were targeted with phishing emails, but investigators have found no evidence the attempt was successful, one of the people said. The attempts occurred before Biden withdrew from the race.
The FBI began an investigation into the cyber incident in June, and intelligence officials believe Iran was behind the efforts, the person said.
A suspected hack and leak of campaign materials by a foreigner may sound familiar, as it has happened before, most notably in 2016.
That year, a Russian hacker exposed emails to and from Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta. The website Wikileaks published a wealth of messages, which were extensively reported by news organizations.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer noted Tuesday that the tactic has been used repeatedly against the U.S., saying it shows that foreign adversaries “are intent on sowing chaos and undermining our democratic process.”
“We must therefore remain steadfast to ensure our cybersecurity is resilient to such breaches in November,” he said in a statement.
Experts say the recent apparent hack of the Trump campaign is unlikely to be the last attempt to influence the U.S. election, either through cyberattacks or online disinformation. Both Iran and Russia, for example, have begun targeting Americans with fake news websites and other social media content that appears designed to influence voters, Microsoft and U.S. intelligence officials said.
Chris Krebs, the country’s former top election security official, warned on the social media platform X that Americans should take this threat seriously.
“You may not like the victim here, but the opponent gives zero F’s about who you like or don’t like,” he said of the Trump campaign hack. “American voters determine American elections. Let’s keep it that way.”
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Associated Press reporters Alanna Durkin Richer, David Klepper and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
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