The FBI has launched an investigation into allegations that the Trump campaign was hacked by hackers working for the Iranian government.
“We can confirm that the FBI is investigating this matter,” the agency said in a brief statement on Monday, without specifically naming the former president or Iran.
A spokesman for the Trump campaign told the BBC that the documents were illegally obtained by “foreign sources hostile to the United States.”
Iranian officials have denied any involvement in the hack, and the U.S. government has not formally charged Iran.
The FBI is also investigating whether Iranian hackers targeted the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign, BBC News partner CBS News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Trump’s campaign announcement came a day after Microsoft released a report indicating that Iranian hackers targeted the campaign of an unnamed U.S. presidential candidate in June.
The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) said the campaign received a spear phishing email designed to appear credible in order to get targets to click on a malicious link.
On Saturday, Trump said hackers “can only access public information.”
The FBI began investigating in early summer after both campaigns experienced phishing schemes, CBS News reported.
Three Biden-Harris campaign staffers were also targeted in phishing emails days before President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the race, according to the Washington Post.
A spokesperson for the Harris campaign said in a statement to the media that the campaign “vigilantly monitors and protects against online threats and we are not aware of any security breaches in our systems.”
The BBC has asked the Harris campaign for comment.
An FBI investigation into the hack was first launched in June, The Washington Post reported.
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff is one of several lawmakers calling on the FBI to reveal what it knew about the hack.
He said the U.S. intelligence community “acted too slowly to properly identify Russian hacking and dumping programs” in 2016 and “should have acted quickly.”
Earlier, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell said he was requesting a briefing from the Department of Homeland Security on “the suspected hacking of the Trump presidential campaign.”
“Yes, Trump is the most despicable person to ever seek public office. He also sought foreign hacking in past elections…but that doesn’t mean the United States has ever tolerated foreign interference,” he said Saturday at X/ posted on Twitter.
At a 2016 campaign rally, he asked Russia to attack his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
U.S. security sources have previously warned that Iran was plotting to assassinate Trump and that it had nothing to do with last month’s attempted shooting in Pennsylvania.
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday charged a Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran of conspiring to assassinate U.S. officials, possibly including the former president.
