Iran has denied any involvement in the hack, and the U.S. government has yet to formally accuse Iran. The FBI is also examining whether Iranian hackers attempted to infiltrate the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign, according to sources cited by CBS News, a partner of the BBC.
These developments come after Microsoft released a report indicating that Iranian hackers targeted the campaign of an unnamed U.S. presidential candidate in June. The report from Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) highlighted that the campaign was sent a spear-phishing email designed to appear trustworthy in order to deceive the recipient into clicking on a malicious link.
On Saturday, Trump commented that the hackers were only able to access publicly available information. CBS News reported that the FBI began its investigation in early summer after both campaigns were subjected to attempted phishing attacks. The Washington Post added that three Biden-Harris campaign staff members received phishing emails shortly before Joe Biden announced he was quitting the race.
A spokesperson for the Harris campaign stated that the campaign "vigilantly monitors and protects against cyberthreats" and that no security breaches were known. The BBC has reached out to the Harris campaign for further comments.
The FBI's investigation into the hacking attempts reportedly began in June, according to the Washington Post. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, along with other lawmakers, has urged the FBI to disclose its findings on the hacking attempts, emphasizing that the U.S. intelligence community was too slow to identify the hacking and dumping operation carried out by Russia in 2016 and should act more swiftly in this case.
Following these events, Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell requested a briefing from the Department of Homeland Security regarding the alleged hack of Trump's campaign. Swalwell, while criticizing Trump, also emphasized that foreign interference should never be tolerated by the United States.
In 2016, Trump famously called on Russia to hack his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during campaign rallies. Meanwhile, U.S. security sources had previously warned of an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump, although this was unrelated to a recent attempted shooting in Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department charged a Pakistani man with ties to Iran in connection with a plot to assassinate U.S. officials, possibly including Trump.
