WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence officials said Monday they were convinced Iran was responsible for the hacking of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, making the cyber breach part of a brazen and broader effort by Tehran to meddle in U.S. politics and undermine the faith. on democratic institutions.
Although the Trump campaign and private sector cybersecurity investigators had previously said Iran was behind the hacking attempts, it was the first time the US government had blamed the attack.
The joint statement by the FBI and other federal agencies also indicated that Iran was responsible for the attempts to hack Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, saying that hackers had “sought access to individuals with direct access to the presidential campaign of both political parties.”
The goal of the hacking and other activities, federal officials said, was not only to sow discord but also to shape the outcome of elections that Iran perceives as “particularly consequential in terms of the impact they may have on its national security interests.”
“We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle, particularly involving influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations targeting presidential campaigns,” said the statement, which in addition to the FBI was also released by the Office of Director of National. Intelligence and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The statement largely confirms the findings of private companies such as Microsoft, which earlier this month issued a report detailing attempts by foreign agents to interfere in this year’s election, and Google, which separately said an Iranian group linked to the country’s Revolutionary Guard has tried to infiltrate the the personal email accounts of about a dozen people linked to President Joe Biden and Trump since May.
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