Trump Campaign Confirms Hack After Anonymous Emails Surface
Trump Campaign Confirms Hack After Anonymous Emails Surface
The campaign for former President Donald Trump confirmed on Saturday that some of its internal communications had been compromised by a hacker. This announcement followed the receipt of emails by POLITICO from an anonymous sender who shared documents purportedly from within Trump’s campaign.
The Trump campaign attributed the breach to “foreign sources hostile to the United States,” referencing a Microsoft report released on Friday. The report highlighted a spear phishing attempt in June by Iranian hackers targeting a senior official in a U.S. presidential campaign, though Microsoft did not specify which campaign was targeted. When asked for details, a Trump campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, declined to provide further information supporting the claim that Iran was responsible for the breach.
“These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Cheung stated. He also mentioned Microsoft’s report, noting that the timing of the cyberattack coincided with Trump’s selection of a vice-presidential nominee.
Cheung did not disclose whether the campaign had engaged with Microsoft or law enforcement regarding the breach, citing the sensitivity of such discussions.
The anonymous emails began arriving at POLITICO on July 22, sent from an AOL account by someone identifying themselves only as “Robert.” Over the past few weeks, “Robert” shared what appeared to be internal communications from a senior Trump campaign official, including a research dossier on Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, dated Feb. 23. According to two individuals familiar with the documents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the documents are authentic. One source described the dossier as an early draft of Vance’s vetting file.
The 271-page dossier compiled publicly available information about Vance’s record and statements, highlighting some, like his past criticisms of Trump, as “POTENTIAL VULNERABILITIES.” Another document provided by “Robert” included a portion of a research file on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who was also considered for the vice-presidential nomination.
When asked how they obtained the documents, “Robert” cryptically replied, “I suggest you don’t be curious about where I got them from. Any answer to this question will compromise me and legally restrict you from publishing them.”
The full extent of the breach remains unclear, but it represents a significant security lapse for the Trump campaign.
In recent weeks, reports have surfaced indicating that the U.S. intelligence community is increasingly concerned that Iran is plotting retaliation against Trump for ordering the 2020 assassination of Iranian military officer Qassem Soleimani. Although no evidence links the hacker to these plots, the situation has raised alarms.
Cheung alluded to these reports in his statement on Saturday, asserting, “The Iranians know that President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House.”
Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment.
This breach recalls the 2016 hacking of top Democratic Party officials ahead of the presidential election. That cyberattack, later attributed to Russia, resulted in the leak of damaging emails that exposed the inner workings of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The Justice Department’s subsequent investigation into Russian interference in the election did not find sufficient evidence to charge Trump or his campaign with collusion, though Special Counsel Robert Mueller did document the campaign’s enthusiasm for exploiting the hacked materials.
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