The Justice Department is getting ready to file criminal charges related to the Iranian hack aimed at Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, according to two individuals familiar with the situation. The timing of the announcement for these charges and the specific targets are not yet clear, but they stem from an FBI investigation into an intrusion that various agencies have tied to Iran’s attempt to influence the current U.S. presidential election.
The possibility of criminal charges arises as the Justice Department has issued warnings about countries like Russia and China trying to interfere in the presidential election between Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris through hacking and covert social media campaigns created to shape public opinion. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen stated that Iran is showing a heightened effort to influence this year’s election compared to previous cycles and that Iranian actions are becoming more aggressive as the election approaches.
In August, the Trump campaign announced that it had been hacked and revealed that Iranian actors had taken and shared sensitive internal documents. Several news outlets, including Politico, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, were recipients of confidential material from within the Trump campaign but have not disclosed any information on what they received.
Reports indicate that Politico began receiving emails in July from an unidentified source through an AOL email account under the name “Robert,” providing what seemed to be a research dossier on Republican vice presidential nominee Ohio Sen. JD Vance, dated February 23, almost five months before Vance was chosen as Trump’s running mate.
The individuals discussing the forthcoming criminal charges requested anonymity from The Associated Press because they were not authorized to publicly discuss a case that had not been unsealed. The Washington Post was the first to report on the pending charges.
