U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary

09/20/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/20/2024 10:55

Chairman Jordan Launches Inquiry into Iran Hacking Trump Campaign to Support the Biden Harris Campaigns

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letterto Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray requesting an unclassified briefing on the Iranian hack of President Trump's campaign. According to reporting, Iran emailed the illegally obtained information to at least three advisers on the Democratic presidential campaign and emailed stolen information, including at least three major media outlets-Politico, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

The Committee is requesting the briefing to address questions including:
  • What material did Iran obtain from President Trump's campaign?
  • To whom at the Biden for President or the Harris for President campaigns did the hackers send information and materials?
  • On what date did the FBI learn there had been a hack and exfiltration of nonpublic information from President Trump's campaign?
  • On what date(s) did Iran provide the stolen documents to the Biden for President campaign or the Harris for President campaign?
  • On what date did the FBI first inform President Trump's campaign it had been hacked?
  • Did the FBI use any Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authorities to surveil President Trump's campaign?

Excerpts of the letter to Director Wray:

"On September 18, 2024, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency announced that in 'late June and early July,' the Islamic Republic of Iran attempted to interfere with the upcoming presidential election by 'sen[ding] unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with the Biden-Harris campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump's campaign . . . .' Since then, Iran has continued 'to send stolen, non-public material' from President Trump's campaign to the media. Iran's actions raise serious concerns about foreign election interference targeting President Trump's campaign to support President Biden's and Vice President Harris's campaigns. We write to request information about this serious matter.

"While media reports have supplemented the FBI's September 18 announcement, details about the hack are few. According to reporting, Iran emailed the illegally obtained information to 'at least three advisers on the Democratic presidential campaign[.]' Additionally, Iran emailed stolen information, including 'research compiled by the Trump campaign on [Senator] JD Vance . . . and internal polls from the campaign,' to at least three major media outlets-Politico, the Washington Post, and the New York Times-from an AOL account using the pseudonym 'Robert.' However, the outlets have not publicly disclosed what other confidential information they received from Iran."

Read the full letter to FBI Director Wray
here.
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