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Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was hacked by Iranian hackers as part of an effort to target people associated with former President Donald Trump, according to court documents and law enforcement officials. He is said to have been one of the prominent politicians who tried to escape. I received an explanation on this matter.
US federal prosecutors on Friday dropped criminal charges against three Iranian government-affiliated hackers in connection with a hacking operation targeting President Trump.
The three men are accused of a multi-year hacking campaign targeting current and former U.S. government officials and journalists, including hacking into the Trump campaign this summer, according to an indictment unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. are.
Masoud Jalili, Seyed Ali Aghamili, and Yasser Baraghi are charged with aggravated identity theft and wire fraud for conducting hacking activities on behalf of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). has been accused of.
According to the indictment, the hackers used their access to the personal email accounts of Trump campaign officials between June and August to steal “debate preparation” materials and information about potential vice presidential candidates. The Justice Department claimed that some of the material was leaked to U.S. media as part of an Iranian effort to stir up discord during the election.
“The defendants’ own words make clear that they were seeking to undermine former President Trump’s campaign ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election,” Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters Friday. “I’m working on it,” he said.
“These authoritarian regimes that violate the human rights of their own people have no voice in our democratic process,” Garland said.
Ginny Thomas is not named in the indictment, but between April and May 2024, the hackers used a persona set up in the name of the judge’s spouse to hack the former U.S. president’s Homeland Security He said he sent a spear-phishing email to his aide. , among other targets.
According to the indictment and law enforcement officials, the hackers set up a fake email account in the name of Ginny Thomas in April 2020, but did not use the account for any operations until four years later. .
The U.S. Supreme Court did not respond to requests for comment.
The hackers also targeted current and former U.S. officials that the U.S. could use in their “ongoing efforts to avenge” Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, whom the U.S. killed in a mass shooting. It is alleged that the attacker was attempting to steal information held by a person. The strike was authorized by President Trump in January 2020.
Prosecutors said hackers impersonated Trump campaign officials and sent internal debate preparation documents hours before the June 27 debate between President Trump and Joe Biden. The email was sent to a personal email account belonging to a Biden campaign official, but the email account owner did not respond, according to the indictment. Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign said people who received the email thought it was spam or a phishing attempt.
Separately, the U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned seven people, including Jalili, as part of a sweeping response to Iran’s efforts to “influence or interfere” in the 2020 and 2024 U.S. presidential elections. imposed.
Allegations of Iranian hacking turned the presidential campaign on its head in August, when multiple news organizations reported receiving emails from a fake email account selling documents stolen from the Trump campaign.
Aggressive solicitations to the media for stolen information, which also included a vetted file on President Trump’s vice presidential candidate, Ohio Sen.・Called comparisons with the laundering of emails stolen from the Clinton campaign.
None of the Iranian hacker suspects have been arrested. The indictment is one of several U.S. government efforts to defuse Iran and Russia’s influence operations on the November presidential election by publicly exposing them.
The indictment includes a photo of a Tehran office building associated with at least one of the suspected hackers, as well as a photo of Balagi smiling with his computer behind him.
U.S. intelligence estimates that Iranian operatives are trying to undermine Trump’s presidential campaign through covert social media operations, while Russia is also trying to undermine Harris’ campaign through similar means. . According to U.S. intelligence agencies, China is primarily focused on influencing down-ballot races, not the presidential election.
U.S. officials quickly concluded that members of the Revolutionary Guards were behind the hack, attempting to steal internal Trump campaign documents and sow discord over the presidential election. This particular IRGC hacking group has a long history of targeting email accounts of senior officials in the Trump and Biden administrations for espionage and surveillance purposes. The hacker group compromised former Trump administration officials in 2022, around the same time the Revolutionary Guards attempted to kill former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
According to the indictment, the hacking operation targeting the Trump campaign began in May. Hackers believed to be affiliated with the IRGC targeted longtime Trump ally Roger Stone and used access to his email account to target campaign staff.
The FBI said the hackers also tried to target the Biden-Harris campaign.
Iran has denied US claims that it is trying to interfere in the US election.
U.S. intelligence officials have warned the public that foreign agents are likely to step up efforts to undermine confidence in the voting process in the final weeks before the presidential election. Meanwhile, U.S. officials are trying to burn down parts of their business through indictments, sanctions, and press conferences.
This month, the Justice Department announced criminal charges against two employees of Russian state media RT, accusing them of secretly funneling nearly $10 million to a U.S. company to create and amplify content aligned with Russian interests. . The department also seized 34 Internet domains suspected of being used by Russian front companies to spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda by impersonating prominent U.S. news organizations such as the Washington Post and Fox News.
Garland defends release of Trump assassination candidate’s letter
Garland defended the Justice Department’s decision to release a letter allegedly written by the man indicted in the second assassination attempt on President Trump, telling reporters Friday that prosecutors believe the would-be assassin will remain in prison. He said there was a need to “ensure” that.
The letter was released in court documents as part of an effort to keep Ryan Wesley Routh in custody before trial. The letter was addressed to The World and said: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, and I am so sorry that it failed.” I gave it my all and gave it my all. It’s up to you to finish the job. And we’re offering $150,000 to anyone who can complete the job. ”
Republican lawmakers, including Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, criticized the Justice Department over the release of the letter, arguing it would put Mr. Trump at further risk.
“Our first order of business with Routh was to make sure we had him in custody,” Garland said Friday. “And when filing a motion for detention, prosecutors must make the most reasonable judgment possible about what evidence is needed to secure detention.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.