Iran-linked hackers threaten to release Trump aides' emails
The group, whose contact uses the pseudonym Robert, says it has already obtained a trove of digital data – including from White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who Trump terms the 'Ice Maiden' due to her tough reputation and influence.
It claims another target was Stormy Daniels , whose claim of a 2006 affair led to Trump's New York hush money trial last year. The group claims it has obtained 100 gigabytes of emails, and also said it had hacked the accounts of Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan and longtime Trump advisor Roger Stone.
Stone continues to be in contact with the president, as his May 30 text message to Trump established when photographers captured it during Trump's trip to Pennsylvania . The group made its claim of holding the information in comments to Reuters , while also raising the idea of selling it. The same group tried to peddle hacked information last year from inside Trump's presidential campaign.
While most mainstream media outlets didn't bite – despite Trump speaking openly about hacked materials from Hillary Clinton's camp during the 2016 campaign that got dumped on WikiLeaks – some of the leaked material appeared to be authentic, internal in opposition research file drawn from public information about now Vice President JD Vance. The nation's top law enforcement officers threatened to hit back hard.
'Anyone associated with any kind of breach of national security will be fully investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,' said FBI Director Kash Patel. AG Pam Bondi called it 'an unconscionable cyber-attack.'
Daniels became a Trump rival as the two clashed during his 2016 election campaign. Trump's criminal trial did feature foul-mouthed text messages between Daniels, lawyer Keith Davidson, and former Trump 'fixer' Michael Cohen. The 2024 hack did not appear to have a major impact on the campaign. Reuters previously authenticated some of the material, including an email purporting to show a financial link between Trump and lawyers for his one-time presidential rival Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy later endorsed Trump and is now Health and Human Services Secretary.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency posted about the hack threats online. 'A hostile foreign adversary is threatening to illegally exploit purportedly stolen and unverified material in an effort to distract, discredit, and divide,' CISA said in an X post.
'This so-called cyber "attack" is nothing more than digital propaganda, and the targets are no coincidence. This is a calculated smear campaign meant to damage President Trump and discredit honorable public servants who serve our country with distinction. These criminals will be found and they will be brought to justice. Let this be a warning to others, there will be no refuge, tolerance, or leniency for these actions.' News of the Iran-linked group's hack comes days after Trump announce a stop in the fighting between Israel and Iran, after Trump ordered a U.S. air assault on three Iranian nuclear facilities.
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