Iranian Hackers Allegedly Leak Trump Campaign’s 271-Page Dossier on JD Vance’s Weaknesses
The Trump campaign has claimed that a massive leak of internal documents, including a detailed 271-page file on Senator J.D. Vance’s (R-OH) potential vulnerabilities, may have been orchestrated by Iranian hackers. While these claims have yet to be confirmed, the leaked information has raised significant concerns within the campaign.
Politico, the outlet that received the leaked communications, reported that the documents were sent by an anonymous source claiming to have obtained them through hacking. The Trump campaign confirmed the authenticity of the communications on Saturday, attributing the leak to foreign entities hostile to the United States. According to campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung, these documents were obtained illegally with the intent to disrupt the 2024 election and create chaos within the American democratic process.
Supporting this claim, a recent report from Microsoft indicated that Iranian hackers had compromised the email account of a high-ranking official within the Trump campaign in June 2024. This hacking incident reportedly coincided with the period when President Trump was in the process of selecting his vice-presidential running mate.
The Microsoft report further detailed that another Iranian group, believed to be connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), attempted a spear phishing attack on a senior official in a presidential campaign. The phishing email, sent from the compromised account of a former senior advisor, contained a malicious link designed to reroute traffic through a domain controlled by the hackers.
Politico revealed that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an AOL account under the alias “Robert.” These emails included internal communications from the Trump campaign, with one email containing the extensive 271-page dossier on J.D. Vance titled “POTENTIAL VULNERABILITIES.” When questioned about the source of the documents, “Robert” advised Politico not to investigate further, suggesting that such inquiries could legally jeopardize the publication of the information.
This incident is not the first time Trump has been targeted by hackers. In 2020, his social media account was compromised when a hacker guessed his password, “maga2020!” Moreover, Trump has allegedly been the target of an Iranian assassination plot, leading to charges against a Pakistani man with ties to the Islamic Republic by the Department of Justice.
#Election2024 #CyberSecurity #Hacking #IranianHackers #TrumpCampaign #JDVance #PoliticalLeaks #ForeignInterference #CyberThreats #USPolitics
Read More...
Typer.me App Now Available on the Play Store!
Typer.me is now on the Play Store! Download the app today and start connecting with others in a whole new way. Whether you’re sharing ideas, organizing content, or exploring trending topics, Typer.me gives you the tools to stay engaged. Install now and join our growing community! Read More...
How Trump is laying the groundwork for rejecting the election result if he loses
Mr Trump has repeatedly told his supporters to make sure the Democrats don't cheat in this year's election - just one example of how he is trying to undermine confidence in the legitimacy of the very democratic process in which he is competing.
Next week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago will be characterised by a mood of relief among delegates.
The switch of candidate from the aged Joe Biden to his vice president Kamala Harris has put the party back in contention in this year's general election, when it seemed set to be flattened by Donald Trump's re-election bid for the presidency.
It still looks like a close race. And even if Ms Harris wins the vote she may not become president.
Much may also hang on how strongly Democratic candidates lower down the ticket perform. It may fall to the US Congress to uphold the constitution.
If Mr Trump "loses" to Ms Harris there are still arguably legitimate ways in which he could end up back in the White House.
Trump loyalists are already preparing for this fight - egged on with carefully unspecific rhetorical encouragement in rambling comments of the man himself.
Whether Mr Trump's protests against his defeat in 2020 amounted to a "Big Lie" or evidence of a "Big Steal", as a majority of Republicans now claim, he is preparing to do it again, if he loses.
At the very least America would be plunged into political and legal chaos, again, for months after the approaching election on 5 November.
It could be much worse. This month President Biden told CBS he is "not confident at all" that there will be a peaceful transition if Ms Harris is elected president.
"Now if I don't get elected it's gonna be a bloodbath," Mr Trump told an audience in March, leaving it ambiguous whether he was only talking about the prospects for the car industry there in Dayton, Ohio.
Lesser politicians are clumsier.
Republican Ohio state senator George Lang apologised after declaring: "I'm afraid if we lose, it's going to take a civil war to save this country."
He did not withdraw his praise for "Bikers for Trump" or the slogan "Fight! Fight! Fight!", also mouthed by Mr Trump, fist aloft, after the assassination attempt on his life.
How Trump could win with the least votes - again
To win the presidency the successful candidate does not necessarily have to get the most votes from the people.
The victor needs the support of a majority of the electoral college - at least 270 out of 538.
Technically the election votes decide the make-up of the college, state by state. Membership does not directly reflect the views of the overall US population.
Republican nominees defeated in the popular vote, including Mr Trump and George W Bush, have become US president in three of the last seven elections.
In 2000, the dispute over Florida went to the US Supreme Court, which ruled in Mr Bush's favour. Since then Mr Trump has made three appointments which have tilted the court in his favour. The justices are likely to back him if there are any legal disputes.
Former president trying to sow seeds of chaos
Mr Trump repeatedly tells his rallies that they have to do two things - they have to vote and they have to make sure that the Democrats don't cheat.
This is just one example of how he is trying to undermine confidence in the legitimacy of the very democratic process in which he is competing. He is laying the ground in advance to challenge the results if they do not go in his favour.
The strategy is a familiar one in modern US campaigns, first formulated by the Republican strategist Roger Stone as "Stop the Steal" back in 2016, in case things did not go Mr Trump's way.
They did and at the end of his presidency, Mr Trump commuted Stone's prison sentence for lying to Congress. As shown in the recent TV documentary, A Storm Foretold, Stone was bitterly disappointed that he did not get a full pardon but he has endorsed Mr Trump again in this campaign.
If Mr Trump loses the vote he may still have successfully spread chaos and confusion which calls the results into question.
There are then potential legal routes at state level and subsequently in Congress, which could even overturn the result in his favour.
This year, election officials have until 11 December to certify the results in their state.
#news #USElections
Read More...
Game on: ABC News says Harris, Trump have agreed to presidential debate on Sept. 10
ABC News says that both Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his Democratic counterpart, Kamala Harris, have agreed to meet in a debate on Sept. 10.
The network’s announcement on Thursday came shortly after Trump told a news conference that he had agreed to three debates with Harris in September on separate networks.
Trump is rejoining the ABC debate days after posting on his social media network that he would not appear on the network, citing a lawsuit he has filed. His decision sets up a highly anticipated moment in an election where the first debate led to a massive change in the race — with Democratic President Joe Biden ending his reelection bid and endorsing Harris.
“I think it’s very important to have debates,” Trump said Thursday. “I look forward to the debates because I think we have to set the record straight.”
On the social media site X later on Thursday, Harris wrote that “I hear that Donald Trump has fully committed to debating me on September 10. I look forward to it.”
At a private fundraiser in Paris on Thursday, Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, said he “cannot wait” to see his wife debate Trump. He was in Paris as head of the U.S. delegation to the Summer Olympics closing ceremony.
Fox News has also proposed a debate between Harris and Trump to take place on Sept. 4, and NBC News is angling to air one on Sept. 25. During an appearance in Michigan, Harris said she was “happy to have that conversation” about an additional debate.
Trump also said he wants his vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, to debate Harris’ choice for veep, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on CBS. The network is discussing potential dates to propose for that meeting.
ABC says that David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate the Sept. 10 contest. That’s the same date that Trump and Biden had agreed to their second and final debate, before Biden’s decision put that event in doubt.
Any debate promises to take on extra importance with polls showing a tight race between the former president and current vice president. While Harris has ridden a wave of excitement among Democrats since inheriting the mantle from Biden, she has yet to appear at a news conference or give an interview to a journalist.
Republicans are already making that an issue. Vance, in a post on X as Trump was in his news conference on Thursday, said Harris was hiding behind a TelePrompter. “It’s been 18 days since she answered real questions from the media,” he wrote.
Read More...