The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges Friday against three Iranian operatives suspected of hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and disseminating stolen information to media organisations.
The defendants’ own words made clear that they were attempting to undermine former President Trump’s campaign in advance of the 2024 US presidential election. We know that Iran is continuing with its brazen efforts to stoke discord, erode confidence in the US electoral process and advance its malign activities, Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference announcing the charges.
The three accused hackers were employed by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Since 2020, their operation sought to compromise the email accounts of a broad swath of targets, including a former ambassador to Israel, a former CIA deputy director, officials at the State and Defence departments, a former US homeland security adviser and journalists, according to the indictment.
The Treasury Department issued sanctions Friday related to the hacking and the State Department offered rewards of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrests of the defendants, who are not in custody.
