The Justice Department has revealed criminal charges against three Iranian operatives for allegedly hacking into Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and sharing stolen information with media outlets. The Trump campaign announced in August that it was hacked, attributing the breach to Iranian actors who took and distributed sensitive internal documents. This information was then reportedly offered to several news organizations, including Politico, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, who chose not to publish it.
American intelligence authorities have linked Iran to the cyber intrusion into the Trump campaign and an attempted breach of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign. They believe the purpose of the hack-and-dump scheme was to create discord, exploit divisions within American society, and potentially influence election outcomes that Iran considers crucial for its national security interests.
Recent disclosures also revealed that in late June and early July, Iranians sent unsolicited emails with excerpts of the stolen information to individuals associated with the Biden campaign. There were no responses from any of the recipients. The Harris campaign described the emails as resembling spam or phishing messages and denounced the Iranian outreach as unwelcome and malicious.
The timing of the indictment is significant as tensions between Washington and Tehran rise. Concurrently, Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel are escalating attacks on each other, amplifying fears of a full-scale conflict. Meanwhile, U.S. officials are monitoring potential physical threats from Iran directed at various officials, including President Trump.