Justice Department to Charge Iranian Hackers in Trump Campaign Breach

The Justice Department is poised to announce criminal charges against Iranian government-backed hackers who targeted former President Donald Trump’s campaign in a hack-and-leak operation, CNN reports, citing four sources familiar with the matter.

The charges could be unveiled as early as next week.

The Iranian hackers are accused of stealing internal Trump campaign documents and disseminating them to news organizations in an attempt to disrupt the 2016 presidential election.

US officials believe they breached the email account of Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally, to gain access to campaign staff in June 2016. These hackers are suspected to be affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

This prosecution, first reported by The Washington Post, is part of a broader US government initiative to preemptively expose foreign influence operations targeting the 2024 election cycle.

In a speech at Columbia Law School, Matthew Olsen, the Justice Department’s top national security official, warned of an “onslaught” by authoritarian regimes seeking to influence the upcoming election.

“Right now, our adversaries are actively taking steps to covertly influence our elections and undermine our democracy,” Olsen said.