Iranian Hackers Allegedly Hacked Donald Trump's Campaign Email, American Muckrakers Publiced Email Contents
JAKARTA The Iranian hacker group accused of hacking the email of the Republican US presidential candidate campaign, Donald Trump, has finally managed to publish some of their stolen material after previously failing to attract the attention of mainstream media.
In recent weeks, the hacker began distributing Trump's emails to a political operative from the Democratic Party who had uploaded the material to the website of its political action committee, American Muckrakers, and to a number of independent journalists.
At least one of the journalists then published it on the Substack writing platform. The leaked email featured communication between Trump's campaign with external advisors and other allies, discussing various topics ahead of the 2024 General Election.
The hackers' activities provide a rare picture of attempts to intervene in US elections. It also shows that Iran remains determined to intervene in elections even though the US Department of Justice has filed charges against perpetrators accused of working for Tehran and using false identities.
The indictment alleges a hacker group linked to the Iranian government, known as the Mint Sandstorm or APT42, had accessed Trump's campaign staff accounts from May to June by stealing their passwords. US Homeland Security Adviser previously warned that the group was continuing to target campaign staff. If found guilty, the suspects face prison sentences and fines.
The hackers, operating under the pseudonym "Robert," did not directly respond to US allegations when interviewed by Reuters. One of the hackers even responded by saying, "Did you really expect me to answer?"
Iran's mission to the United Nations has denied the report, stating that their country's involvement in the US election hack was "completely baseless."
Operation Leaks Email
The leak operation began around July when anonymous email accounts, noswamp@aol.com, began contacting reporters in major media, including Politico, Washington Post, and the New York Times, offering internal information on Trump's campaign.
In early September, the same hacker returned to using another email account, BOBibbobi.007@aol.com, to offer material to Reuters and several other media. The material contains Trump's campaign research on Republican politicians such as JD Vance, Marco Rubio, and Doug Burgum.
However, major media including Reuters refused to publish a report based on this leak because it considered its contents inappropriate to report. AOL then closed the email access used by hackers after collaborating with the FBI to track the group.
American Muckrakers Involved In Publication
On September 26, the North Carolina-based political action committee American Muckrakers began publishing internal Trump campaign emails. David Wheeler, founder of the organization, stated that the documents are authentic and have value for the public. Wheeler said he would continue to publish similar documents as long as they were considered authentic and relevant.