US Claims Iran Sent Stolen Trump Files to Biden Campaign

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Facts

  • US authorities said on Wednesday that Iranian hackers transmitted stolen information from former Pres. Donald Trump's campaign to individuals engaged in Democratic Pres. Joe Biden's re-election campaign this summer.[1][2]
  • According to a joint statement from the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, unsolicited emails were sent with the hacked, non-public material as text.[3]
  • There is currently no evidence that the recipients replied or acted on these emails, and agencies added that the 'malicious cyber actors' continued to send stolen Trump material to US media outlets.[4]
  • The Trump campaign called for Kamala Harris and Biden to 'come clean' on whether they used the material to hurt Trump, arguing that Tehran is actively meddling in the election because the Republicans will restore 'tough sanctions' on Iran.[5][6]
  • Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Harris campaign claimed to be unaware of any material sent directly to individuals associated with the then-Biden campaign, with a campaign official telling CNN that the material was not used.[7][8]
  • This comes as US authorities accused Iran in August of launching cyberattacks against the campaigns of both presidential candidates with the intent to sow discord. Iran has denied all accusations, saying it has no interest or motive to meddle in US elections.[9]

Sources: [1]Reuters, [2]New York Post, [3]FOX News, [4]Axios, [5]CyberScoop, [6]Daily Wire, [7]The Hill, [8]CNN and [9]Al Jazeera.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Washington Post. US adversaries see election interference as a low-cost, potentially high-reward method to launch attacks to harm undesired candidates or create division and distrust. America must do more to protect its core institutions against these malicious attacks. Western democracies must band together to defend their free and democratic societies.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Irna. This is just another smear against Iran, which has no interest whatsoever in meddling in US internal affairs, let alone its presidential election this year. Though Donald Trump is indeed a criminal, Tehran is committed to bringing him to justice through legal means for ordering the assassination of Gen. Soleimani.

Predictions