Charges expected in Iranian hack of Trump campaign: Sources

(WASHINGTON) — Federal prosecutors are expected to file criminal charges in connection with the alleged hack of emails from members of former President Donald Trump’s campaign, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.

The charges in connection with the hack, which the U.S. government has attributed to Iran, could be filed as soon as next week, the sources said.

The Iranians allegedly gained access to data and files taken from the email accounts of Trump advisers, which included internal documents used to vet Trump’s perspective running mate, the sources said.

The Trump campaign, as victims, would be notified of any criminal charges that happen, as is standard Department of Justice practice.

The Washington Post first reported charges were expected.

The Trump campaign did not immediately comment.

Last month, the Trump campaign cited a report published by Microsoft in claiming they were hacked. Though it did not specifically name Trump’s campaign, Microsoft’s statement said, “In June 2024, Mint Sandstorm — a group run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence unit — sent a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor. The phishing email contained a fake forward with a hyperlink that directs traffic through an actor-controlled domain before redirecting to the listed domain.”

The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian armed forces.

Federal officials have been dealing with increased hacking activity around the 2024 election. A week after Microsoft’s statement, Google said a hacking group associated with Iran targeted the personal email accounts of “roughly a dozen” people associated with the Trump and Joe Biden campaigns, including current and former U.S. government officials.

“In May and June, APT42 targets included the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen individuals affiliated with President Biden and with former President Trump, including current and former officials in the U.S. government and individuals associated with the respective campaigns. We blocked numerous APT42 attempts to log in to the personal email accounts of targeted individuals,” the report said.

The group, APT42, is also associated with the IRGC, according to Google.

Meta has also issued warnings about hacking and disinformation during the campaign, releasing a report last month that identified Russia and Iran has the top two threats.

ABC News’ Luke Barr contributed to this report.

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