Washington (TDI): The United States (US) Justice Department indicted three members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, accusing them of hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and attempting to disrupt the upcoming election on November 5.
This the framing of charge represents the Biden administration‘s latest effort to prevent foreign interference in the electoral process. Particularly during the contest between former President Trump, a Republican, and his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
In response to the charges, Iran labeled the accusations as baseless. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that the three individuals—Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, and Yasar Balaghi—were part of a coordinated effort to undermine Trump’s campaign.
Garland emphasized, “We are seeing increasingly aggressive Iranian cyber activity during this election cycle.”
According to the indictment, the accused used fake email accounts to deceive campaign officials, tricking them into believing they were communicating with a trusted source.
They allegedly lured officials into clicking links that allowed them to steal sensitive emails and internal documents. It says that they also steal information regarding debate preparation materials and profiles of potential vice presidential candidates.
The stolen information was then leaked to media outlets and to the campaign of Joe Biden while he was still a candidate. The other charges against the three Iranians includes wire fraud, identity theft, and computer fraud.
Additionally, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against the three individuals and other members of the Revolutionary Guards Corps.
