Iranian hackers have reportedly distributed stolen emails from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. These emails have been shared with a Democratic political operative and independent journalists, revealing internal communications with advisors ahead of the 2024 election.
What Happened: The hacking group, identified as Mint Sandstorm or APT42, was previously indicted by the U.S. Justice Department for alleged election interference. Despite these charges, they continue to target campaign staff, as noted in a Homeland Security advisory. The group reportedly used fake personas to compromise Trump campaign staffers’ accounts in May and June, Reuters reported on Friday.
American Muckrakers, a political action committee, has published some of the leaked emails. Its founder, David Wheeler, asserts the documents are genuine and serve the public interest. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign accuses Iran of attempting to disrupt the 2024 election and warns journalists against spreading the stolen materials.
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Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein is one of the few who published the leaked documents, despite FBI warnings of a “foreign malign influence operation,” the report said.
The FBI has been investigating Iran’s hacking activities against both presidential campaigns.
Trump’s campaign has yet to respond to Benzinga’s queries.
Why It Matters: The recent incident is part of a broader pattern of Iranian cyber activities targeting U.S. elections. In August, Meta Platforms Inc. successfully thwarted an attempt by the same Iranian group, APT42, to target key figures associated with both President Joe Biden and former President Trump. Meta reported blocking a "small cluster" of WhatsApp accounts linked to these hackers, highlighting the persistent cyber espionage efforts by state-sponsored actors.
In September, U.S. intelligence agencies revealed that Iran attempted to share hacked information from Trump’s campaign with President Biden’s team. The FBI and other agencies disclosed that Iranian cyber actors sent unsolicited emails to individuals associated with Biden’s campaign, containing excerpts from stolen Trump campaign material.
Furthermore, the U.S. Justice Department charged three Iranian hackers for interfering in the 2024 presidential election. These hackers, allegedly part of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, targeted the election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari
