In a startling revelation, U.S. intelligence agencies have accused Iranian cyber actors of attempting to "sow discord and shape the outcome of U.S. elections."
The agencies allege that these actors sent unsolicited emails to individuals associated with President Biden's re-election campaign during the summer. These emails reportedly contained stolen material from former President Trump's campaign.
According to Fox News, the joint statement issued by the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence stated, "Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Bidens campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trumps campaign as text in the emails." The agencies, however, have not yet found evidence to suggest that the recipients responded to these emails.
The U.S. intelligence agencies further allege that Iran's election interference efforts have not ceased since June. They claim that the Iranian cyber actors have continued to send stolen material from Trump's campaign to U.S. media organizations. "Furthermore, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trumps campaign to U.S. media organizations," the agencies reported.
The agencies believe that Iran's persistent interference in the election is a calculated attempt to "stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process." They assured that the FBI, as the lead for threat response, is actively tracking this activity, contacting victims, and continuing to investigate in order to disrupt the threat actors responsible. "Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as we approach November," they warned.
Former President Trump, during a campaign stop in Uniondale, New York, expressed his outrage over the Iranian election interference, labeling it as "insanity." He stated, "Three agencies of the Kamala Harris and Joe Biden administration the FBI, the office of the Director of National Intelligence and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency they just released a report, confirm that Iran actors hacked into the Trump campaign's email accounts and, in turn, sought to give the hacked material to the Biden-Harris campaign. They gave them all of the materials because Biden is working with Iran, and Iran doesn't exactly like me because they were ready to make a deal."
Trump further emphasized the need to put an end to such activities, stating, "But we cannot allow this insanity to continue anymore. That's why less than two months from now, we are going to tell Kamala that we've had enough. Kamala, you've been a terrible vice president. You will be an even worse president. We're not going to take it anymore. You're fired. Get out!"
Iran is not the sole foreign adversary accused of meddling in the 2024 presidential election. On July 10, ODNI officials labeled Russia as the "preeminent threat" to the election. "It's all the tactics we've seen before, primarily through social media, efforts using influential U.S. voices to amplify their narratives and other tactics," ODNI officials informed reporters in July. They also highlighted the intelligence community's expectation of an increase in underhanded activities by foreign adversaries as the U.S. election day approaches, emphasizing the threat to Americas political landscape.
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