'Malicious' Iranian Actors Tried to Give Info Stolen from Trump Campaign to Biden's Team: FBI
A joint statement from a number of U.S. government agencies accused Iran of trying to meddle in the forthcoming November election.
The Wednesday statement came from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In a follow-up to an August update noting that the campaign of former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, had been hacked by Iran, the ODNI, CISA, and FBI revealed even more harrowing details Wednesday.
The latest update noted just how Iranian actors were trying to harm Trump’s electoral chances — including by handing information directly to his then-chief political rival, incumbent President Joe Biden.
“[T]he FBI has learned additional details about Iran’s efforts to sow discord and shape the outcome of U.S. elections. Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Biden’s campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails,” the joint statement said.
It is worth noting that there didn’t appear to be any reciprocation from Biden’s camp.
“There is currently no information indicating those recipients replied,” the statement noted.
However, just because certain members of Biden’s team didn’t respond doesn’t mean that the Iranian cyber actors stopped trying to disseminate the information.
“Furthermore, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations,” the statement continued.
The joint statement would then go on to issue a blanket warning, including one directed at a particularly noxious trio of American adversaries.
“This malicious cyber activity is the latest example of Iran’s multipronged approach, as noted in the joint August statement, to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process,” the statement said.
The joint statement then noted that the FBI is the “lead for threat response” and “has been in contact with the victims.”
One could presume that would include members of Trump’s campaign.
Furthermore, the joint statement warned, “Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as we approach November.
“In particular, Russia, Iran, and China are trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their own benefit, and see election periods as moments of vulnerability.
“Efforts by these, or other foreign actors, to undermine our democratic institutions are a direct threat to the U.S. and will not be tolerated.”
Trump is just days removed from a second assassination attempt at a Florida golf course on Sunday. The former president escaped that encounter unscathed thanks to his heroic security detail.
The first attempt came on July 13, at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a shooter hit Trump in the ear. He also hit several rallygoers, killing one.
Besides those assassination attempts, Trump has also seen all manner of threats hurled at him — some more much real than others.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
