Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign said Saturday that it had been hacked and blamed Iran for breaking into its data, days after Microsoft revealed the terror-backing nation has been ramping up online activity in an attempt to influence the US election.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung made the announcement following report from Politico that said the outlet had received anonymous emails that included documents from inside Trump’s campaign operation.
The campaign cited the report from Microsoft on Friday that said a presidential campaign had been targeted with an email phishing attack in June, according to reports.
“These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Cheung said in a statement.
“On Friday, a new report from Microsoft found that Iranian hackers broke into the account of a ‘high ranking official’ on the U.S. presidential campaign in June 2024, which coincides with the close timing of President Trump’s selection of a vice presidential nominee,” he continued.
“The Iranians know that President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House,” he added.
Cheung declined to say if there was further information to substantiate Iran’s involvement.
He noted that the hack came “after recent reports of an Iranian plot to assassinate President Trump around the same time as the Butler, PA tragedy.” Trump was wounded July 13 in an assassination attempt during a rally in the western Pennsylvania town.
Politico reported it began receiving purported communications on July 22 from a “senior Trump campaign official” that included vetting documents related to Trump’s pick for Vice President, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
The documents, which insiders confirmed to Politico are authentic, detailed Vance’s record and past statements and “potential vulnerabilities” and were dated from February.
The emails were from an anonymous AOL account from a person who identified himself only as “Robert.”
When asked how he came into possession of the sensitive materials, he gave an ominous response.
“I suggest you don’t be curious about where I got them from. Any answer to this question, will compromise me and also legally restricts you from publishing them,” Politico reported.
US intelligence has reportedly found increasing evidence that Iran has been working on retaliation plots against Trump related to the 2020 assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Trump maintained Soleimani was the architect of attacks on US troops in the Middle East that resulted in hundreds of casualties.
Iran has denied the allegations that it is engaging in online efforts to interfere in the election..
The Microsoft report also said Iran has created fake news sites and impersonated activists in attempts to sway voters primarily in swing states, but did not provide further details on which “high ranking official” had been hacked.
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