Claim comes amid reports of foreign efforts to interfere in US presidential election.
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump [File: Seth Wenig/Pool via Reuters]
Published On 11 Aug 202411 Aug 2024
US presidential candidate Donald Trump has accused Iran of hacking his campaign.
The Republican nominee’s campaign team issued a statement late on Saturday claiming that the Iranian government stole and distributed sensitive internal documents. The accusation came after Microsoft issued a report detailing foreign attempts to interfere in this year’s US election campaign.
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The campaign team cited past tensions between Trump and Iran but did not provide direct evidence.
“These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our democratic process,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said.
Late on Saturday, Trump posted on his Truth Social app that Microsoft had informed the campaign that Iran had hacked one of its websites, but said they were “only able to get publicly available information”.
A report by Politico just ahead of the accusation said an anonymous source had offered to supply to the US outlet documents from inside Trump’s operation, including a report about running mate JD Vance’s “potential vulnerabilities”.
A spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement that it takes any report of foreign interference “extremely seriously” and condemns any entity that attempts to undermine US democratic institutions.