By: Jake Smith, Daily Caller News Foundation
A Democratic Political Action Committee (PAC) published internal Trump campaign emails after an Iranian hacking group reportedly leaked them, Reuters reported on Friday.
The hackers recently started trying to pass off the emails to various media outlets, who were uninterested in publishing the material, according to Reuters. But the hackers finally found one willing individual in recent weeks: Democrat political operative David Wheeler, who posted the emails to the website of his PAC, American Muckrakers.
When asked why he published the material, Wheeler told Reuters he wanted to “expose how desperate the Trump campaign is to try to win.” He would not discuss how the material originated Some of the emails include correspondence between campaign operatives leading up to the election.
Biden admin: Iran is trying to get Kamala elected...https://t.co/m08Ei7Cqgt
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 19, 2024
The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged the supposed Iranian hackers — a group known as Mint Sandstorm —in September for working on behalf of the Islamic regime and using fake identities. The DOJ said the group was made up of three operatives who collectively go by the name “Robert.”
“Robert” was also responsible for leaking intel Trump campaign research documents about Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance.
Reuters reached out to “Robert” asking about the DOJ’s allegations. In response, “Robert” asked Reuters, “Do you really expect me to answer?!”
Iran has been involved in various election interference schemes, ranging from cyber warfare attacks to assassination attempts against Trump. Iran has a particular disdain for Trump because he authorized the killing of former top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
There have been two near-successful attempts on Trump’s life in recent months, although the individuals involved in those incidents were not tied to Iran.
Iran has denied that it’s involved in any sort of election interference, with the country’s mission to the United Nations (UN) telling Reuters that such claims were “fundamentally unfounded, and wholly inadmissible.”
For its part, the Trump campaign did not ever specifically comment on the leaked Vance research documents but said in early October that Iran’s cyberwarfare operations were “intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our democratic process.”
American Muckrakers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
