According to Donald Trump’s campaign, Iranian operatives were the intended targets of a breach that compromised internal communications.
On Saturday, Politico reported that it had received campaign information, including reports on Ohio Senator JD Vance—Trump’s running mate—via email. A campaign spokeswoman informed the BBC that the documents had been sought by hostile foreign sources aiming to interfere in the 2024 election.
Politico has verified the authenticity of the documents, though neither the BBC nor any third parties have confirmed this. The campaign has not provided specific evidence to prove that the Iranian government or Iranian hackers were behind the breach.
A report from Microsoft, released the day prior, indicated that the campaign of an unnamed US presidential candidate had been hacked in June. Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) stated that a spear-phishing email—a fraudulent email meant to trick the recipient into clicking a malicious link—had been sent to the campaign.
“Recent months have seen a noticeable increase in influence operations by Iranian entities,” the MTAC report said.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung, citing the MTAC findings, linked the June hack to the timing of Trump’s vice-presidential selection. Cheung added, “The Iranians know that President Trump will end their reign of terror, just as he did during his first term.”
According to Politico, an AOL email account under the name “Robert” began sending emails to the publication in late July. The Vance file, based on publicly available information about his past statements and actions, was reportedly 271 pages long. The email also mentioned portions of a report on Florida Senator Marco Rubio, another potential vice-presidential candidate.
It is common practice for presidential campaigns to vet potential running mates to avoid surprises. According to Politico, Vance’s past criticisms of Trump were flagged as “potential vulnerabilities” in the report.
Microsoft’s research noted that “Iranian cyber-enabled influence operations have been a consistent feature of at least the last three US election cycles.” During the 2020 election, Microsoft similarly claimed that Iranian hackers had targeted presidential campaigns.
Separately, US security sources have reportedly warned of an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump, unrelated to an attempted shooting in Pennsylvania last month. On Tuesday, the US Department of Justice charged a Pakistani national with links to Iran, accusing him of plotting to kill US officials, possibly including the former president.
The BBC has reached out to Iranian officials for comment.
