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    • Iran gave people linked to Biden’s campaign hacked Trump information: FBI
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    Iran gave people linked to Biden’s campaign hacked Trump information: FBI

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    WASHINGTON — Iranian hackers sent unsolicited information stolen from former President Donald Trump’s campaign to people with ties to President Joe Biden’s campaign, but the overtures were ignored, the FBI and other federal agencies said Wednesday.

    The announcement is the latest in a series of warnings from federal cybersecurity officials about Iran’s efforts to interfere in the upcoming election, including taking specific steps to release information about Trump’s campaign. That included a hack-and-leak spear phishing attempt targeting Trump’s campaign in retaliation for the former president’s actions while in office against the Tehran regime, including the killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

    The public warning from the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was issued as “the FBI has learned more details about Iran’s efforts to sow division and influence the outcome of the U.S. election,” the agencies said in a joint statement.

    “Iranian malicious cyber actors sent unsolicited emails to individuals then affiliated with President Biden’s campaign in late June and early July that included an excerpt of stolen, non-public materials from former President Trump’s campaign embedded in the text of the emails,” the agencies said in a statement, first reported by the Associated Press. “There is currently no information indicating that those recipients responded. Additionally, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public materials related to former President Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations.”

    According to the Associated Press news agency, the Justice Department is preparing charges for the violation.

    More: Russia is accelerating election meddling to help Trump defeat Harris, intelligence officials say

    Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies have also said that Iran, Russia and, to a lesser extent, China have all targeted the 2024 presidential campaign in an effort to undermine voter confidence in the election and sow division.

    Biden dropped out of the race in July, clearing the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to run and eventually become the Democratic nominee. She is trailing Trump in the most recent polls.

    Morgan Finkelstein, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said the campaign “has been cooperating with appropriate law enforcement authorities since we became aware that individuals associated with the then-Biden campaign were among the intended victims of this foreign influence operation.”

    “We are not aware of any material sent directly to the campaign; a few individuals were targeted on their personal emails with what appeared to be a spam or phishing attempt,” Finkelstein told USA TODAY. “We strongly condemn any attempt by foreign actors to interfere in U.S. elections, including this unwanted and unacceptable malicious activity.”

    Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, said the announcement by federal authorities is “further evidence that the Iranians are actively interfering in the election to help Kamala Harris and Joe Biden because they know President Trump will reinstate his tough sanctions and oppose their reign of terror.” “Kamala and Biden need to be honest about whether they used the hacked material they got from the Iranians to hurt President Trump,” Leavitt told USA TODAY. “What did they know and when did they know it?”

    Communication about hacking campaign, internal documents

    Last month, U.S. intelligence agencies said they had confirmed that Iran was behind the attempted hacks against the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns. That came after Trump’s campaign said some internal documents and communications had been hacked and leaked to a news organization.

    Iran’s mission to the United Nations has denied any involvement in the hacking attempts described by the U.S. agencies. “We do not give any credence to such reports,” the mission told The Associated Press. “The Iranian government has no intention or motive to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.”

    Politico, The Washington Post and the New York Times all reported receiving the information, but there is no indication they actually published the information.

    According to the Washington Post, Harris’ campaign was also the target of a failed “spear phishing” attack aimed at bypassing the firewall.

    And last month, U.S. intelligence officials said Russia was ramping up its efforts to influence the election as Election Day approaches. They specifically want to help Trump defeat Harris and are also trying to influence the election at lower levels.

    Contributors: Michael Collins, David Jackson

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