Iran tried to influence election by sending stolen material from Trump campaign to Biden’s camp, FBI says

In an effort to ‘sow discord and shape the outcome of U.S. elections’, Iranian cyber actors sent messages during the summer to people involved in President Biden’s then re-election campaign containing stolen material from former President Trump’s campaign, U.S. agencies said.

‘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 FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a joint statement on Wednesday. 

The agencies noted that there is currently no information indicating if recipients replied to the messages.

The U.S. intelligence agencies also alleged that Iran has continued their election interference since June and has sent stolen Trump campaign material 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 Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations,’ they said.

The agencies said that the continued election interference from Iran is to ‘stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process.’

‘As the lead for threat response, the FBI has been tracking this activity, has been in contact with the victims, and will continue to investigate and gather information in order to pursue and disrupt the threat actors responsible,’ they said. ‘Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as we approach November.’

Iran is not the only foreign adversary accused of meddling with the 2024 presidential election. On July 10, ODNI officials called Russia the ‘preeminent threat’ to the election.