The U.S. government has formally endorsed former President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran hacked his campaign, with the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence all stating that Iran was behind attempts to hack the campaigns of both political parties. They have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle, including influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations targeting presidential campaigns. The agencies are confident that Iranians have sought access to individuals with direct access to presidential campaigns in an attempt to influence the U.S. election process.
The same hackers were alleged to have targeted the Biden-Harris campaign as well, but it’s not clear whether they were successful. The FBI continues to investigate the matter to protect the integrity of U.S. elections from foreign influence. Iran’s mission to the United Nations has denied any involvement in trying to hack Trump’s campaign, but the agencies emphasize Iran’s longstanding interest in exploiting societal tensions through various means, including cyber operations related to U.S. elections.
Three American news outlets reported receiving documents stolen from the Trump campaign, with the campaign alleging that this was part of an Iranian “hack-and-leak” operation. Google also published a report detailing Iranian hacker group activities targeting both the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns. The U.S. had previously blamed Iran for an election influence operation involving harassing emails sent to Democrats in Florida.
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