Politics

Iran-linked hackers threaten to release 100 Gb of Trump aides’ email data: “these criminals will be found and brought to justice”

An Iran-linked hacker group have threatened to release hundreds of emails from top Trump aides.

An Iran-linked hacker group have threatened to release hundreds of emails from top Trump aides.
Evelyn Hockstein
Joe Brennan
Born in Leeds, Joe finished his Spanish degree in 2018 before becoming an English teacher to football (soccer) players and managers, as well as collaborating with various football media outlets in English and Spanish. He joined AS in 2022 and covers both the men’s and women’s game across Europe and beyond.
Update:

A pro‑Iranian hacker collective operating under the pseudonym “Robert” have threatened to unleash around 100 GB of emails said to be stolen from top aides of former President Donald Trump, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, political advisor Roger Stone, attorney Lindsey Halligan, and adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who was paid $130,000 to sign a non-disclosure agreement about an affair she says she had with Trump.

The threats come after the United States bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities in support of Israel, who continue their barrage of attacks and threats against their middle eastern neighbours.

“Robert” are believed to have ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); they first surfaced in late 2024 by leaking internal Trump campaign emails. Some of these “Robert”-sourced materials were authenticated by Reuters, who were contacted by the group to orchestrate the public release of the threats.

Reuters’ report said that “Robert raised the possibility of selling the material but otherwise did not provide details of their plans. The hackers did not describe the content of the emails.”

‘These criminals will be found and they will be brought to justice’

U.S. security agencies have condemned the new threat with FBI Director Kash Patel giving a stern warning in a statement to Reuters, who authenticated some material in the previous leak: “Anyone associated with any kind of breach of national security will be fully investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) also labelled it a “calculated smear campaign” from a hostile foreign adversary to discredit Trump and other officials, as well as manipulate public opinion.

And it appears that a threat of this type is not the first. Back in September, the U.S. Justice Department accused three members of the IRGC of being behind a leak that aimed to disrupt the presidential election.

The US Cyber Defence Agency, CISA, warned that “these criminals will be found and they will be brought to justice”, adding: “let this be a warning to others, there will be no refuge, tolerance, or leniency for these actions.” As reported by Reuters, “Tehran has in the past denied committing cyberespionage.”

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