Iranian hackers distributed hacked information about Donald Trump’s electoral campaign to people linked to the Biden campaign, according to the FBI and US intelligence agencies.
There’s no evidence that any of the recipients responded, officials said, preventing the hacked information from surfacing in the final months of the closely contested election.
US officials now believe that information taken from the Trump campaign was sent in unsolicited emails to people linked to the campaign in late June and early July – before Biden dropped out of the race for president.
There is currently no evidence that the hackers received any reply from any recipients.
In August, officials warned that Iran hopes to “stoke discord” and undermine confidence in US institutions ahead of the November election.
US officials said that Iran had used “social engineering and other efforts” to seek out direct access to both the Democratic and Republican campaigns – a tactic they said had been used by both Iran and Russia in other countries around the world.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the FBI said that “Iranian malicious actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to US media organisations”.
When contacted by the BBC, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that the hack is proof that Iran was “interfering in the election to help Kamala Harris and Joe Biden because they know President Trump will restore his tough sanctions and stand against their reign of terror”.
She said Biden and Harris should outline what happened to the material sent to Biden associates. “What did they know and when did they know it?” Ms Leavitt questioned.
The BBC has also contacted the White House and Harris campaign for comment.
The FBI statement added that officials have been in contact with the victims of the hack and will continue to investigate in hopes of stopping and disrupting “the threat actors responsible”.
