Federal prosecutors are expected to file criminal charges in connection with the alleged hack of emails from members of former President Donald Trump’s campaign, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.
The charges in connection with the hack, which the U.S. government has attributed to Iran, could be filed as soon as next week, the sources said.
The Iranians allegedly gained access to data and files taken from the email accounts of Trump advisers, which included internal documents used to vet Trump’s perspective running mate, the sources said.
The Trump campaign, as victims, would be notified of any criminal charges that happen, as is standard Department of Justice practice.
The Washington Post first reported charges were expected.
Last month, the Trump campaign cited a report published by Microsoft in claiming they were hacked.
The phishing email contained a fake forward with a hyperlink that directs traffic through an actor-controlled domain before redirecting to the listed domain.”
“In May and June, APT42 targets included the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen individuals affiliated with President Biden and with former President Trump, including current and former officials in the U.S. government and individuals associated with the respective campaigns.
We blocked numerous APT42 attempts to log in to the personal email accounts of targeted individuals,” the report said.
Meta has also issued warnings about hacking and disinformation during the campaign, releasing a report last month that identified Russia and Iran has the top two threats.
According to people familiar with the situation who spoke with ABC News, federal prosecutors are anticipated to bring criminal charges in relation to the purported hacking of emails belonging to former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
Regarding the hack, the U.S. authorities filed charges. S. The sources stated that the government has linked to Iran and could file as early as next week.
According to the sources, the Iranians purportedly obtained access to information and files extracted from the email accounts of Trump advisors, including confidential records utilized to screen potential running mate candidates.
It is standard procedure for the Department of Justice to notify the Trump campaign of any criminal charges, as they are the victims in this case.
Charges were anticipated, according to a Washington Post report.
The Trump campaign remained silent for a while.
The Trump campaign claimed they were hacked last month, citing a Microsoft report. Microsoft’s statement said, “In June 2024, Mint Sandstorm — a group run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence unit — sent a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor,” though it did not mention Trump’s campaign by name. A fake forward with a hyperlink that reroutes traffic via an actor-controlled domain and then to the specified domain was included in the phishing email. “.”.
An arm of the Iranian military is the IRGC.
Around the 2024 election, there has been an increase in hacking activity that federal officials have to deal with. Google claimed that a hacking group linked to Iran had targeted the personal email accounts of “roughly a dozen” individuals connected to the Trump and Joe Biden campaigns, including current and former U.S. S. government representatives.
Google also notes that the group APT42 is connected to the IRGC.
In addition, Meta has cautioned about hacking and misinformation during the campaign. In a report released last month, the company named Iran and Russia as the two main threats.
Luke Barr of ABC News contributed to this article.
