Reports have surfaced that the personal email accounts of Roger Stone, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, were targeted during a cyberattack on Trump’s campaign, as revealed by various media outlets.
The FBI confirmed on Monday that it is looking into claims regarding the theft of sensitive documents from Trump’s campaign, which announced on Saturday that it had been hacked, attributing the breach to Iranian military intelligence.
In their statement, Trump’s campaign described the attack as “a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor.” While no concrete evidence was provided, Microsoft had previously reported an increase in “significant influence activity by Iranian actors” aiming to disrupt the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
According to The Washington Post, Stone has been informed by investigators that his personal email accounts were breached.
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Stone commented, “I really don’t know more about it. And I’m cooperating. It’s all very strange,” when speaking to the Post.
As a political consultant for Trump’s 2016 campaign, Stone was later convicted on multiple felony counts during Trump’s presidency but received a pardon in 2020.
CNN has also reported that Stone’s email accounts were targeted in the same cyberattack, citing multiple sources.
Over the weekend, Politico disclosed it had received emails from an anonymous AOL account identified only as “Robert,” containing internal campaign documents related to the vetting of Ohio Senator JD Vance, who was recently selected as Trump’s running mate.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung stated that these documents were “obtained illegally” and intended to disrupt the 2024 election and create chaos in the democratic process.
In response, Iran’s mission to the United Nations dismissed Trump’s campaign’s accusations, asserting, “We do not accord any credence to such reports. The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election.”
Additionally, a source informed AP that both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign were also targeted in the cyberattack, which is under FBI investigation. A spokesperson for Harris’ campaign reassured that, “Our campaign vigilantly monitors and protects against cyber threats, and we are not aware of any security breaches of our systems.”