The Harris campaign addressed the revelation by federal agencies that individuals tied to the Biden campaign were targeted by Iranian actors with emails containing stolen Trump campaign materials, stating that they do not know of any materials sent “directly” to the Biden campaign, but that some people received emails on their personal accounts.
“We have cooperated with the appropriate law enforcement authorities since we were made aware that individuals associated with the then-Biden campaign were among the intended victims of this foreign influence operation,” Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Morgan Finkelstein said in a statement.
“We’re not aware of any material being sent directly to the campaign; a few individuals were targeted on their personal emails with what looked like a spam or phishing attempt,” Finkelstein added. “We condemn in the strongest terms any effort by foreign actors to interfere in U.S. elections including this unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity.”
In a joint statement released Wednesday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said, “Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Biden’s campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails.”
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Leadership Conference, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
“There is currently no information indicating those recipients replied,” the statement continued. “Furthermore, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations.”
The agencies said such “malicious cyber activity” served as the latest example of Iran’s multipronged approach “to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process.”
“As the lead for threat response, the FBI has been tracking this activity, has been in contact with the victims, and will continue to investigate and gather information in order to pursue and disrupt the threat actors responsible,” the statement said. “Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as we approach November. In particular, Russia, Iran, and China are trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their own benefit, and see election periods as moments of vulnerability.”
Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign spokesperson, said the development “is further proof the Iranians are actively 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.”
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump raises his fist as he departs a campaign event at Nassau Coliseum, Wednesday, Sept.18, 2024, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“Kamala and Biden must come clean on whether they used the hacked material given to them by the Iranians to hurt President Trump. What did they know and when did they know it?” she said in a statement.
A Harris campaign official told Fox News Digital that “the material was not used.”
President Biden, left, holds up the arm of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, while on stage at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Phoenix Awards Dinner in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Federal authorities said they have thwarted Iranian assassination plots against U.S. politicians in recent months. U.S. officials say Trump, as well as President Biden and Nikki Haley, were among the targets. Earlier this week, a Pakistani man with deep ties to Iran was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court for alleging paying undercover agents he believed were hitmen to carry out the assassinations this summer.
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Within two months, Trump has faced two assassination attempts at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and while golfing at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida, though authorities haven’t publicly linked either plot to Iran.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
