The presidential campaign of Donald Trump has announced that it fell victim to a cyber breach, insinuating that Iranian individuals were responsible for thieving and disseminating internal confidential materials. Despite the allegation implicating Iran, the campaign has failed to present definite proof. The allegation surfaced following a report by Microsoft the preceding day that called out international agents’ efforts to meddle with the 2024 US electoral procedures.
The report mentioned an event in June where an Iranian military intelligence unit reportedly sent a “spear-phishing email to a senior official of a presidential campaign using a compromised email account of a long-serving advisor.” Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, attributed the cyber-attack to “overseas entities inimical to the US.”
The National Security Council has not reacted promptly to requests for remarks. Politico initially reported the cyber-security breach, stating it started obtaining emails from an unidentified source since July 22nd. The sender named “Robert” using an AOL email account, apparently forwarded what seemed to be an investigation file the campaign had conducted on JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate and senator from Ohio.
Reportedly, the report is dated 23rd February, nearly five months before Trump chose Vance as his number two. Cheung alleged that those documents were “acquired illicitly” and were meant to “create turmoil in our Democratic process and hamper the 2024 election.” He invoked the Microsoft report from Friday asserting that “Iranian hackers infiltrated a ‘senior official’s’ account on the US presidential campaign in June 2024,” which aligns with Trump’s vice-presidential nominee’s selection timeline.
Cheung suggested that Iran knows that Trump would thwart their reign of terror as he did in his initial presidential term. He also cautioned media houses against publishing the documents or internal communications as they would be executing the wishes of those against America. Iran’s UN mission has denied any plans to interfere or conduct cyberattacks on the US election in response to the report by Microsoft. Cheung has not immediately addressed inquiries concerning the campaign’s interaction with Microsoft on this issue. As per Microsoft, no further comment will be made apart from its blog post and report shared on Friday.
The recent report from Microsoft revealed an intensifying foreign disruptive influence relating to the US 2024 elections. This interference initially stemmed from Russian operatives but lately, it’s coming from Iranian activities. It stated further, “Over past three electoral cycles in the US, Iran’s cyber-enabled meddling has been persistent. Their meddling is distinctively different from Russian campaigns as they appeared late in the election season and inclined more towards disrupting election process rather than influencing voters.”
The tech giant has also observed the rising involvement of both Kremlin and the Iranian Government as the 2024 elections come closer. In its report, Microsoft specifically stated an incident from June 2024 where Mint Sandstorm, a unit of Iranian military intelligence, dispatched a phishing email, which was camouflaged as a forwarded message with a high-tech hyperlink. It was sent to a US presidential campaign through a seized account of a former advisor.
No immediate response was received from Vice-President Kamala Harris’s team on the allegedly reported hack or on her campaign’s cybersecurity measures. Recently, Ms. Harris restated her commitment to abolish taxation on tipping to benefit hospitality and service staff, a promise that her rival in the forthcoming election, Donald Trump, has also adhered to. This rare congruence in political pledges was announced separately at rallies hosted in Las Vegas by both parties. However, the implementation of this requires the action from Congress, which neither candidates are likely to fully achieve.
Ms. Harris made her pledge public during a rally at the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas significantly reliant on hotel, restaurant and entertainment industries. Directly after, Mr. Trump mocked Ms. Harris via his social media, alleging she had copied his promise of “No taxes on tips”.
The ex-president has accused the current vice-president of only being interested in politics, stating she is bereft of original concepts and resorts to appropriating his own. The vice-president, however, has been vocal about tackling immigration issues, reflecting on her commitment to the cause in an Arizona rally.
At the UNLV, she declared an understanding of the faults in the immigration system, making her stance on her solution clear – an ‘earned pathway to citizenship’ for certain individuals residing unlawfully in the United States. She criticised Mr Trump, suggesting his rhetoric on border security doesn’t match his actions.
In light of recent events, the vice-president is attempting to wrest political advantage in the contentious subject of immigration from the hands of Mr Trump and leading Republicans. The vice-president hopes that by taking a firm stance on this issue, it will create divisions among their Republican counterparts.
She is faced with the challenge of battling accusations from top Republicans who, prior to the 2020 election, tried to paint her as an enabler of illegal migration and neglectful of the southern border. These responsibilities have fallen under her role within the Biden administration as the focus shifts to migration’s root causes.
Trump alleged that her performance as a border overseer is the most inept in history. Furthermore, he suggested expansive expulsions if he were to regain the presidency, but contrary to this, a 2020 study by AP VoteCast showed that nearly 70% of Nevada voters believe the chance to legally reside in the United States should be offered to immigrants living there illegally.