Trump campaign says it was hacked and blames Iran
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The Trump campaign cited past hostilities between the former US president and Iran without providing direct evidence.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – The campaign of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Aug 10 some of its internal communications were hacked and blamed the Iranian government, citing past hostilities between Trump and Iran without providing direct evidence.
The campaign statement came shortly after news website Politico revealed it began receiving emails in July from an anonymous source offering authentic documents from inside Trump’s operation, including a report about running mate J.D. Vance’s “potential vulnerabilities”.
“These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the US, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Late on Aug 10, Trump posted on his Truth Social app that Microsoft had just informed the campaign that Iran had hacked one of its websites.
He cast blame on Iran, adding they were “only able to get publicly available information”. He did not elaborate further on the hack.
Reuters has not independently verified the identity of the alleged hackers or their motivation.
The Trump campaign referred to an Aug 9 report from Microsoft researchers that said hackers tied to the Iranian government tried breaking into the account of a “high-ranking official” on a US presidential campaign in June. The hackers had taken over an account belonging to a former political adviser and then used it to target the official, the report said. That report did not provide further details on the targets’ identities.
A Microsoft spokesperson declined to name the targeted officials or provide additional details after the report was published.
Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations in New York said in an e-mail that “the Iranian government neither possesses nor harbours any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election”.
“We do not accord any credence to such reports,” it added in response to the Trump campaign’s allegations.
On Aug 9, in response to Microsoft’s findings, Iran’s mission to the UN in New York told Reuters that its cyber capabilities were “defensive and proportionate to the threats it faces” and that it had no plans to launch cyber attacks.
“The US presidential election is an internal matter in which Iran does not interfere,” Iran’s mission to the UN said.
The former president had tense relations with Iran while in office. Under Trump, the US killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020
“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,” Mr Cheung said.
Trump survived an assassination attempt in July. about an Iranian plot against Trump.
Late in July, a senior intelligence official told reporters in a briefing that Tehran and Moscow maintain their same presidential preferences as in past cycles, where Iranian operatives will attempt to tear down the Republican ticket while Russia has made efforts to smear Democrats, according to prior intelligence community assessments. REUTERS
