Multiple Iranian Nationals Indicted in Cyber Attack on Trump’s 2024 Campaign

Several Iranian nationals have been indicted on criminal charges for a cyber attack against former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, according to sources familiar with the matter in Washington, D.C.

The indictment, signed by a federal grand jury on Thursday, is expected to be formally announced by the Department of Justice as early as Friday, according to Politico.

Donald Trump

Charges are related to an Iranian cyber operation earlier this summer. During this operation, hackers stole material from Trump’s campaign and tried to use it to sway the 2024 election.

The stolen information was allegedly offered to media outlets and President Biden’s now-defunct campaign team members.

Last month, the Trump campaign confirmed it had been the target of a hacking attack and pointed the finger at Tehran.

This confirmation followed a report from Politico revealing that the media outlet had received a dossier on Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance from an AOL email account linked to an entity identified only as “Robert.” However, details about the contents of the dossier remain undisclosed.

U.S. officials, including those from the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, later confirmed that Iran was behind the hack and had also attempted to breach email accounts associated with Biden’s campaign.

Both Microsoft and Google had previously reported Iranian cyber activities targeting U.S. campaigns, further corroborating the allegations. Earlier this month, U.S. security agencies disclosed that the stolen Trump campaign material was also passed along to individuals involved in Biden’s re-election campaign.

Many of these individuals continued to work for Vice President Kamala Harris after Biden exited the race. However, there is no evidence that the recipients of the Iranian communications responded to the messages.

Due to the international nature of these cyber operations, the hackers, who are believed to be operating from countries that do not extradite to the U.S., are unlikely to face trial in an American court.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, head of the DOJ’s National Security Division, recently addressed the increasing aggression of Iranian cyber activities in a speech in New York City.

He emphasised that Iran views this year’s U.S. elections as critical to its national security interests, prompting more aggressive attempts to influence the election outcome than in previous cycles.

In a related development, Trump was briefed this week by the ODNI about “real and specific threats” from Iran, including an alleged assassination plot against him.

According to Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung, these threats are part of an Iranian effort to destabilise the U.S. and sow chaos.

Trump later hinted that attempts by Iran had already been made but were unsuccessful, though no specific details were provided.

The Justice Department has been contacted for further comment but has yet to respond.