- Media: FBI investigating possible hack into Trump campaign team
The FBI is investigating a potential hacking incident involving internal communications of the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign team. The U.S. federal police confirmed this in a statement, according to matching media reports. The "New York Times" reported that the FBI did not name the Republican but referred to media reports about a "cyber attack in the campaign." According to the "Washington Post", citing sources familiar with the situation, the agency is also investigating a possible hacking attack on the Democratic campaign team.
The news portal "Politico" first reported the case over the weekend. According to that, Trump's spokesman Steven Cheung spoke of a hack after the online portal received several emails from an sender named "Robert" containing internal campaign communications. The "Washington Post" reported that it had been contacted in a similar manner. A 271-page internal dossier on Trump's vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance was reportedly leaked to U.S. media. Such dossiers are used in the U.S. campaign to better prepare for political attacks from the opposing side.
According to "Politico", the Trump team blamed "hostile foreign actors" for the cyber attack and cited a threat analysis by Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center, which mentioned alleged Iranian interference in the U.S. election. The report said a group linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards had gained access to the account of a former high-ranking member of a campaign team and sent so-called spear-phishing emails. However, Microsoft did not identify any specific persons or parties in the report.
The Trump team did not provide direct evidence of a hack by Iranian actors to "Politico". The "Washington Post" reported, citing sources familiar with the situation, that while the FBI suspects Iranian actors behind the cyber attacks, it is less clear whether the same groups sent the emails to U.S. journalists. The CNN broadcaster reported, citing an informed source, that the FBI had warned the team of U.S. President Joe Biden, who has since made way for Kamala Harris in the campaign, about the risk of potential Iranian cyber attacks in June. However, the FBI did not mention Iran in its official statement on the investigation.
The FBI's investigation into the potential hacking incident involves the US election campaign of both Republican and Democratic teams. The FBI's interest in the cyber attack stems from its impact on internal communications of key US election campaign teams.
