By Steve Neavling
The FBI and other intelligence agencies revealed Monday that they had determined Iran was responsible for hacking the Trump campaign and had made efforts to interfere with both presidential campaigns.
“We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle, specifically involving influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations targeting Presidential campaigns. This includes the recently reported activities to compromise former President Trump’s campaign, which the [intelligence community] attributes to Iran,” the FBI said in a statement alongside the office of the director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The statement adds that the U.S. has “sought access to individuals with direct access to the Presidential campaigns of both political parties.”
“Such activity, including thefts and disclosures, are intended to influence the U.S. election process,” they wrote.
The intelligence community has consistently highlighted Iran’s attempts to influence the election, emphasizing that both Iran and China are increasingly emulating Russia’s tactics of spreading disinformation and fostering division among Americans in the lead-up to the election.
“Iran perceives this year’s elections to be particularly consequential in terms of the impact they could have on its national security interests, increasing Tehran’s inclination to try to shape the outcome,” the agencies said in a statement.
Earlier this summer, reports emerged that Iran had devised a plan to assassinate former President Trump.
