A federal grand jury has secretly approved an indictment related to the hacking of the Trump campaign, with the charges expected to be announced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as soon as Friday. The names of the defendants and specific criminal charges are not immediately available, but the indictment, approved on Thursday afternoon, is the latest development in a high-profile case involving foreign interference in U.S. elections.
Both the DOJ and the Trump campaign declined to comment on the indictment.
Last month, the Trump campaign confirmed it had been hacked after several media outlets received internal campaign documents via an anonymous email account. The leaked materials included a research dossier on Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate. The campaign blamed the breach on Iranian hackers. The accusation was supported by a Microsoft report dated August 8, which revealed that Iranian hackers had sent a spear-phishing email in June to a high-ranking official within the Trump campaign.
POLITICO reports U.S. security agencies released an “unusual” statement earlier this month indicating that the stolen materials from the Trump campaign had been sent to individuals linked to President Biden’s reelection team. However, the statement clarified that there is no evidence the recipients responded to the hacked information. This transfer of stolen campaign data underscores a broader concern about foreign interference in the U.S. electoral process.
Google’s cybersecurity division has also confirmed that Iranian hackers attempted to infiltrate Biden’s campaign but reported no success in those efforts.
The statement from U.S. security agencies highlights the growing threat from foreign actors, particularly Russia, Iran, and China, who are seeking to exploit divisions in American society during sensitive periods such as elections. “Russia, Iran, and China are trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their own benefit, and see election periods as moments of vulnerability,” the agencies said in their statement.
This case adds to a string of federal actions against foreign entities engaged in cyberattacks on U.S. political infrastructure, underscoring the persistent threat of foreign interference in American democracy.
