The FBI is opening an investigation into an apparent hack of former president Donald Trump’s campaign that came to light over the weekend.
“We can confirm the FBI is investigating this matter,” the FBI told National Review in a statement, referring to the hack. The Trump campaign told NR the documents were “obtained illegally” by a hostile foreign actor, and the campaign touted Trump’s foreign-policy record on handling Iran.
“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. 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,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“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. Any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America’s enemies and doing exactly what they want.”
The FBI investigation also encompasses Iranian attempts to hack the Biden-Harris campaign, the Washington Post reported. The investigation began in June when agents began contacting private companies about alleged Iranian “spear phishing” efforts.
Politico broke the story Saturday of the suspected hack after an anonymous email account sent the outlet internal documents from the Trump campaign. The news followed a report from Microsoft about Iranian influence operations targeting the 2024 presidential election.
“Yet another Iranian group, this one connected with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign from the compromised email account of a former senior advisor,” Microsoft disclosed.
Last week, prosecutors unveiled a complaint charging a Pakistani man with ties to Iran for plotting to kill Trump and other current and former U.S. officials. The individual was arrested on July 12, one day before gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa.
Crooks wounded Trump and two others, and killed former fire chief Corey Comperatore. The FBI is continuing to investigate Crooks’s assassination attempt on Trump and his advance planning. Separate investigations are taking place into the law-enforcement failures leading up to the attempt on Trump’s life.
Trump took a heavy-handed approach to Iran during his administration, reversing former president Barack Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Iran nuclear deal, and applying sanctions on hundreds of Iranian targets. The Trump administration strengthened the U.S. alliance with Israel and killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani with a precision drone strike.
U.S. officials have warned of Iran’s plans to influence the presidential election and target government officials in retaliation for Soleimani’s death.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s 2024 rival, would likely accommodate Iran and pursue diplomacy instead of taking Trump’s adversarial approach. Harris’s top foreign-policy adviser, Philip Gordon, is linked to individuals tied to an apparent Iranian influence operation, and he previously criticized the Soleimani killing.
This week, Iran is expected to launch retaliatory attacks on Israel for the deaths of top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, as Israel’s war against Hamas continues. Both terrorist groups are part of the Iranian proxy network that remains a major threat to U.S. personnel in the Middle East and to international trade routes.