The FBI indicated on Monday that it is investigating attempted Iranian computer attacks on the campaigns of both Republican Donald Trump and Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
“We can confirm that the FBI is investigating this matter,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a brief statement reported by newspapers such as The Washington Post.
While the Democratic campaign was still led by President Joe Biden, not Vice President Kamala Harris, the three workers said they received emails that appeared legitimate, but opening them would have given them access to those people's communications.
So far, according to the same anonymous sources, there is no evidence that these efforts have been successful.
The newspaper described the FBI as beginning its investigation in June, suspecting Iran of being behind attempts to steal data from two election campaigns. Among other companies, they contacted Google.
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The hacking attempt took place in July before Biden announced he would not run for re-election and before Democrats nominated Harris.
Although the FBI suspected Iran of being behind the email hacking attempts, The Washington Post He noted that investigators were not clear that the country was responsible for sending internal propaganda materials to the press that Republicans blamed on Tehran.
Former President Trump's campaign spokesman Steven Cheung confirmed to US media last Saturday that some of his internal communications had been hacked.
The Politico portal reported the same day that it had received emails from an anonymous account in late July with documents from the conservative campaign and what appeared to be “internal contacts of a senior official” of the group.
The documents were “illegally obtained from foreign sources hostile to the United States, with the intention of interfering with the 2024 election and sowing chaos in the country's democratic process,” Cheung said in a statement over the weekend.
The spokesman was referring to a Microsoft report released Friday about the Iranian government's cyber activities to influence the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.
In the report, called “Iran Enters 2024 Elections with Internet-Enhanced Influence Activities,” the agency points out that it has seen this activity from Tehran in “recent months” in the past three election cycles in the United States.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday criticized foreign election meddling in general and said she took the information “very seriously,” but declined to comment on the accusation launched by the Republican campaign.
“We have repeatedly stated that this administration strongly condemns any foreign government or entity that attempts to interfere in our electoral process or undermine confidence in our democratic system. That is why we take such reports of this activity very seriously,” he commented.
The spokesman stressed that they would not tolerate or combat that influence, and clarified that the government's efforts to secure US elections “have grown significantly over the years.”
With information from EFE
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