Trump's campaign asserts Iran hacked internal correspondence

The Donald Trump campaign has reported that certain internal communications have been compromised, leading them to suspect the involvement of Iranian operatives.

According to a report from Politico, an American news website, campaign documents were recently sent via email. These documents contained internal research on JD Vance, the running mate of former President Donald Trump from Ohio.

A campaign spokesman informed us that the documents were acquired illegally from foreign sources that were unfriendly towards the United States. The intention behind obtaining these documents was to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election.

According to Politico, the authenticity of the documents has been confirmed.

The campaign did not provide additional information or evidence regarding the connection between the document leak and Iranian hackers or the Iranian government.

The statement was released the day after Microsoft published a report revealing that hackers from Iran had explicitly targeted the campaign of an unidentified US presidential candidate in June.

According to Microsoft's Threat Analysis Centre (MTAC), the campaign was initiated through a spear phishing email. This type of message is carefully crafted to appear legitimate and to trick the recipient into clicking on a harmful link.

According to the MTAC report, Iranian actors have recently increased their influence activity.

In response to the MTAC report, Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, pointed out that the timing of the June hacking attempt aligns closely with President Trump's announcement of his vice presidential nominee.

"President Trump's track record of curbing Iran's reign of terror during his first four years in the White House is well-known," stated Mr. Cheung.

A person who identified themselves only as "Robert" began sending emails to Politico in late July using an AOL email account.

According to the news outlet, the Vance file is 271 pages long and compiled from publicly accessible information regarding Vance's previous records and statements. According to the email account, a portion of a research document regarding Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who was once considered a potential vice presidential candidate, was also sent.

Presidential campaigns often conduct thorough research on potential vice-presidential nominees to uncover potentially embarrassing revelations. According to a report by Politico, the document categorized specific well-known criticisms made by Mr. Vance against Trump as "potential vulnerabilities."

According to the Microsoft report, Iranian cyber-enabled influence operations have been a recurring aspect of the past three US election cycles.

In a report released during the 2020 election, Microsoft revealed that presidential campaigns had been targeted by Iranian hackers, echoing their previous findings.

According to US security sources, there are concerns about a potential Iranian plot to assassinate Trump. It is important to note that this plot is separate from the attempted shooting incident that occurred in Pennsylvania last month. In a significant development, the US Justice Department has filed charges against a Pakistani man who is believed to have connections to Iran. The charges allege that he was involved in a plot to assassinate US officials, including possibly the former president.