US Presidential Election: Trump's Campaign Claims It Was Hacked By Iran

Former US President Donald Trump's presidential campaign said on Saturday that it had been hacked, as reported by US-based news agency, Politico. The claim follows an anonymous email from an account using AOL, identifying itself as "Robert," which included documents from within Trump's campaign, Politico reported.

The campaign pointed to a Microsoft report, released on Friday, which attributed the breach to "foreign sources hostile to the United States," as reported by Politico. The report claimed that Iranian hackers "sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign." Microsoft, however, did not identify the campaign targeted by the email.

Politico further reported that it did not verify the hacker's identity and did not know the motivation behind the act.

"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. "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," Politico reported, quoting Trump campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung.

Politico reported receiving emails from a senior Trump campaign official containing a research dossier dated February 23 on Trump's running mate, JD Vance, and a similar document on Senator Marco Rubio.
The dossier, a 271-page document, included publicly available records of Vance, with a section labelled "Potential Vulnerabilities." The hacker also sent to Politico a part of a similar research document on the finalist for the vice presidential nomination, Senator Marco Rubio, as reported by Politico.

Some reports emerged in July that US intelligence received evidence that Iran was plotting to kill Trump as revenge for his decision to order the killing of Iranian military officer Qassem Soleimani in 2020, as reported by Politico. There was no indication of whether Trump's shooter, who attempted to assassinate Trump at his Pennsylvania rally, was linked with Iran.

"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," Cheung said in a statement as quoted by Politico.

The Iranian mission to the UN said it does "not accord any credence to such reports," adding, "The Iranian Government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election," the mission said in a statement, as reported by CNN.