Several reports emerged on Thursday, citing federal law enforcement officials as saying that Iranian hackers sent unsolicited information stolen from Donald Trump's campaign to people associated with President Joe Biden's re-election campaign. The information was reportedly sent to journalists as well.
Officials at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a joint statement in connection with the matter.
They reportedly said, “Iranian malicious cyberactors” sent unsolicited emails that contained “an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign".
According to the New York Times, the emails were sent in late June and early July. Investigators believed the suspected Iranian hackers breached Trump's long-time ally Roger Stone's account in June, reports claimed.
The emails were said to be part of an effort by "Iran to steal and disseminate sensitive internal communications between aides working for former President Donald Trump after it gained access to the email accounts of a longtime political adviser, Roger J. Stone," the New York Times reported.
According to the statement, there is no indication that Biden's staff ever responded. In the statement, the law enforcement said that the hackers efforts to send information to US media outlets has continued.
The statement said that the hack is one of the various efforts made by the Iranian government trying to "stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process," CNN reported.
Law enforcement officials earlier said that those efforts also comprised an unsuccessful attempt to hack the Biden-Harris campaign.
CNN also reported that Iranian government-backed hackers stole Trump campaign documents and shared them with news organisations.
Beginning on July 22, Politico had reported that it had received emails that mentioned internal communication from a senior Trump campaign official and a research dossier the campaign had put together on Trump's running mate and Ohio Senator, JD Vance.
Later, The New York Times and The Washington Post had also reported that they had received similar information, including a 271-page document on Vance dated February 23 and labelled "privileged & confidential," that the outlets said was based on information available in public, the report said.
US officials believe the Iranian hackers work for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGS).
Elections in the US are set to be held on November 5. Donald Trump is the Republican presidential nominee, while US Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee. Earlier in July, Biden withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed Harris as the Democratic candidate for presidential elections.
(With inputs from ANI and other agencies)
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