Iranian hackers threaten to release treasure trove of White House emails
Months after distributing material stolen from President Donald Trump 's campaign, the group of hackers informed Reuters that they had roughly 100 gigabytes of emails from accounts belonging to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, Trump adviser Roger Stone, and adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The group, which goes by the name 'Robert,' did not disclose details of the emails to Reuters but said they were considering selling the materials.
The hacking disclosure arrived shortly after the Trump administration issued a warning to people about the potential for cyberattacks against critical infrastructure by Iranian state-sponsored or affiliated groups.
The White House and FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that it 'takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness' and that it was a 'top priority' to safeguard the administration's ability to execute the president's mission.
'Anyone associated with any kind of breach of national security will be fully investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,' Patel said in the statement.
In recent years, the U.S. has experienced similar cyberattacks from foreign-linked hacking groups.
Last year, Chinese-affiliated hackers tried to target data from Trump and Vice President JD Vance's phones while the 'Robert' group released a trove of emails obtained from the Trump campaign to reporters, including some from Stone.
'This so-called 'cyber attack' is nothing more than digital propaganda, and the targets are no coincidence,' Marci McCarthy, the director of public affairs for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said in a statement.
'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,' McCarthy added.
Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have mounted recently after Trump ordered missile strikes on nuclear facilities in the country, raising the threat of cyber attacks.
Officials have also warned that groups supportive or affiliated with Tehran may seek to disrupt critical infrastructure systems, defense contractors, or other American companies with ties to Israel.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Elon Musk does surprise U-turn amid heated Trump feud to give the president 'credit' on a major conflict
Elon Musk took to his X account to talk about President Donald Trump but, in a surprising twist, he was there to praise him instead of criticize him. He made his complimentary comment after re-tweeting Trump's update on peace talks between Israel and Gaza including a 60-day ceasefire deal. 'Credit where credit is due. @realDonaldTrump has successfully resolved several serious conflicts around the world,' the world's richest man wrote. It was a remarkable change in tone considering the two men have spent the month sniping at each other on social media, each trying to out top the other with threats and insults. The Tesla CEO has come out publicly against Trump's signature spending and tax 'big, beautiful bill' that is snaking its way through the House and Senate this week. He slammed the bill over its cuts to electronic vehicle subsidies and says it increases the country's deficit. After Musk's public condemnation of the legislation, Trump even indicated he was open to the idea of deporting the Tesla founder, who was born in South Africa and is a naturalized American. The president also threatened to turn Musk's DOGE agency against him, telling the Daily Mail that he might have the agency 'eat Elon' - which likely meant Trump was threatening to cancel Musk's billions in government contracts. The simmering tensions between the two men have boiled over in the past week as Musk railed against Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' and Trump snapped back. It was a throw back to their breakup last month, which was public and messy. Their long alliance appears to be over but Musk, who said he was leaving DOGE to concentrate on his private businesses, appears to be making a return to politics. Musk spent almost $300 million to support Trump and other Republican candidates in the 2024 election. And now he's threatening to start a new political party. In response, Trump escalated matters, saying he is open to deporting Musk and adding that additional threat: turning DOGE - the agency Musk founded - against him. 'I don't know. We'll have to take a look,' the president told Daily Mail on Tuesday when asked about deporting Musk. 'We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,' Trump added. Musk responded on X, writing: 'So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now.' Their feud, which had quieted down, reignited after the Tesla founder spent much of the weekend railing against Trump's signature bill, complaining about its cuts to electronic vehicle subsidies and showing that it increases the country's deficit. The Senate, however, ultimately approved the 'big, beautiful bill' on Tuesday. It now faces another vote in the House. Trump shrugged off Musk's criticism and warned the Tesla founder has more to lose than EV subsidies that help support his car business. 'Elon is not getting his mandate,' Trump said Tuesday. 'He's not going to get his mandate and he better be careful. He might not get anything else.' Trump also appeared to regret his Tesla purchase, which he made earlier this year, paying cash. He turned the South Lawn into a Tesla showroom in a nod to his relationship with the world's richest man. 'Not everybody wants an electric car. I don't want an electric car,' Trump said. At the time, Musk was the head of the Department of Government Efficiency and his auto dealerships became the target of protests due to his sweeping cost-cutting. Musk was a top contributor to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, spending millions to help the president win a second term. But their relationship went South after Musk left the government to return to the private sector. They sparred on social media after Musk amped up his criticism of the Big, Beautiful Bill. But Trump made it clear that Musk knew the subsidies for electronic cars was not an option from the start. And he said Musk may have to go back to his homeland of South Africa. 'Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly endorsed me for president, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate,' Trump wrote on Truth Social early Tuesday. Musk, in response, threatened to start a new political party and target Republicans who ultimately vote for the president's package. 'If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,' he wrote on X. 'Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.' Musk, the world's richest man, gave nearly $300 million to Republican candidates last year. Now he may leverage that seismic war chest among the very GOPers he once aided, writing he would work to dislodge GOP incumbents in primaries 'if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.'
The Guardian
12 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Mayors sue over Trump's efforts to restrict Obamacare signups
New Trump administration rules that give millions of people a shorter timeframe to sign up for the Affordable Care Act's health care coverage are facing a legal challenge from Democratic mayors around the country. The rules, rolled out last month, reverse a Biden-era effort to expand access to the Affordable Care Act's health insurance, commonly called 'Obamacare' or the ACA. The previous Democratic administration expanded the enrollment window for the coverage, which led to record enrollment. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rolled out a series of new restrictions for Obamacare late last month, just as Congress was weighing a major bill that will decrease enrollment in the health care program that Donald Trump has scorned for years. As many as 2 million people – nearly 10% – are expected to lose coverage from the health department's new rules. The mayors of Baltimore, Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, sued the federal health department on Tuesday over the rules, saying they will result in more uninsured residents and overburden city services. 'Cloaked in the pretense of government efficiency and fraud prevention, the 2025 Rule creates numerous barriers to affordable insurance coverage, negating the purpose of the ACA to extend affordable health coverage to all Americans, and instead increasing the population of underinsured and uninsured Americans,' the filing alleges. Two liberal advocacy groups – Doctors for America and Main Street Alliance – joined in on the complaint. The federal health department announced a series of changes late last month to the ACA. It will shorten the enrollment period for the federal marketplace by a month, limiting it to 1 November to 15 December in 2026. Income verification checks will become more stringent and a $5 fee will be tacked on for some people who automatically re-enroll in a free plan. Insurers will also be able to deny coverage to people who have not paid their premiums on past plans. The rules also bar roughly 100,000 immigrants who were brought to the US as children from signing up for the coverage. The new rules 'safeguard the future of the marketplace', and will lower premiums for those who remain in the program, HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement. 'The rule closes loopholes, strengthens oversight, and ensures taxpayer subsidies go to those who are truly eligible – that's not controversial, it's common sense,' Nixon said. But the three mayors argue that the polices were introduced without an adequate public comment period on the policies. 'This unlawful rule will force families off their health insurance and raise costs on millions of Americans. This does nothing to help people and instead harms Americans' health and safety across our country,' said Skye Perryman, the president of Democracy Forward, which is representing the coalition of plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The lawsuit does not challenge the Trump administration's restriction on immigrants signing up for the coverage. The Biden administration saw gains in Obamacare enrollment as a major success of the Democratic president's term, noting that a record 24 million people signed up for the coverage, thanks to generous tax breaks offered through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. But the program has been a target of Trump, who has said it is riddled with problems that make the coverage unaffordable for many without large subsidies. Enrollment in the program dipped during his first term in office.
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Hamas says it's open to a Gaza truce but stops short of accepting a Trump-backed proposal
Hamas suggested Wednesday that it was open to a ceasefire agreement with Israel, but stopped short of accepting a U.S.-backed proposal announced by President Donald Trump hours earlier, insisting on its longstanding position that any deal bring an end to the war in Gaza. Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. The U.S. leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire, and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war. Trump said the 60-day period would be used to work toward ending the war — something Israel says it won't accept until Hamas is defeated. He said that a deal might come together as soon as next week. But Hamas' response, which emphasized its demand that the war end, raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialize into an actual pause in fighting. Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said that the militant group was 'ready and serious regarding reaching an agreement.' He said Hamas was 'ready to accept any initiative that clearly leads to the complete end to the war.' A Hamas delegation is expected to meet with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the proposal, according to an Egyptian official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, because he wasn't authorized to discuss the talks with the media. Disagreement on how the war should end Throughout the nearly 21-month-long war, ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over whether the war should end as part of any deal. Hamas said in a brief statement Wednesday that it had received a proposal from the mediators and is holding talks with them to 'bridge gaps' to return to the negotiating table to try to reach a ceasefire agreement. Hamas has said that it's willing to free the remaining 50 hostages, less than half of whom are said to be alive, in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war. Israel says it will only agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and exiles itself, something the group refuses to do. An Israeli official said that the latest proposal calls for a 60-day deal that would include a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a surge in humanitarian aid to the territory. The mediators and the U.S. would provide assurances about talks to end the war, but Israel isn't committing to that as part of the latest proposal, the official said. The official wasn't authorized to discuss the details of the proposed deal with the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. It wasn't clear how many hostages would be freed as part of the agreement, but previous proposals have called for the release of about 10. Israel has yet to publicly comment on Trump's announcement. On Monday, Trump is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, days after Ron Dermer, a senior Netanyahu adviser, held discussions with top U.S. officials about Gaza, Iran and other matters. Trump issues another warning On Tuesday, Trump wrote on social media that Israel had "agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.' 'I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,' he said. Trump's warning may find a skeptical audience with Hamas. Even before the expiration of the war's longest ceasefire in March, Trump has repeatedly issued dramatic ultimatums to pressure Hamas to agree to longer pauses in the fighting that would see the release of more hostages and a return of more aid for Gaza's civilians. Still, Trump views the current moment as a potential turning point in the brutal conflict that has left more than 57,000 dead in the Palestinian territory. Gaza's Health Ministry said the death toll passed the 57,000 mark Tuesday into Wednesday, after hospitals received 142 bodies overnight. The ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its death count, but says that more than half of the dead are women and children. Since dawn Wednesday, Israeli strikes killed a total of 40 people across the Gaza Strip, the mMinistry said. Hospital officials said four children and seven women were among the dead. The Israeli military, which blames Hamas for the civilian casualties because it operates from populated areas, was looking into the reports. The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages. The war has left the coastal Palestinian territory in ruins, with much of the urban landscape flattened in the fighting. More than 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million population has been displaced, often multiple times. And the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, pushing hundreds of thousands of people toward hunger. Hospital director killed The director of the Indonesian Hospital, Dr. Marwan Sultan, was killed in an apartment in an Israeli strike west of Gaza City, a hospital statement said. The hospital is the Palestinian enclave's largest medical facility north of Gaza City and has been a critical lifeline since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The hospital was surrounded by Israeli troops last month, and evacuated alongside the other two primary hospitals in northern Gaza. The bodies of Sultan, his wife, daughter and son-in-law, arrived at Shifa Hospital torn into pieces, according to Issam Nabhan, head of the nursing department at the Indonesian Hospital. 'Gaza lost a great man and doctor," Nabhan said. "He never left the hospital one moment since the war began and urged us to stay and provide humanitarian assistance. We don't know what he did to deserve getting killed.' ___ Bassem Mroue reported from Beirut. Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, and Josef Federman in Jerusalem, contributed to this report. ___
