The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation informed the nominee for its next director that he may have been targeted in a cyberattack by surrogates from the Islamic Republic.
The agency concluded that Kash Patel, who held security-related positions in the previous Trump White House, had some of his electronic communications compromised in a suspected "hack and leak" operation.
While the exact information accessed remains unclear, the incident follows disclosures from the Trump campaign in August, revealing several of the organization’s associates had also fallen victim to data breach activities coordinated by operatives linked to Tehran.
“Kash Patel was a key part of the first Trump administration’s efforts against the terrorist Iranian regime and will implement President Trump’s policies to protect America from adversaries as the FBI Director,” Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team, said in a statement responding to the assessment.
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