An Iranian-linked hacking group has threatened to sell stolen emails from Donald Trump’s inner circle which it claims to have obtained during the 2024 election campaign.
The hackers, who use the online pseudonym “Robert,” told Reuters they had around 100 gigabytes of emails taken from the accounts of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, longtime Trump ally and political consultant Roger Stone, and Stormy Daniels, the porn star whom the president paid to keep quiet about an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 election.
Robert said they’re considering selling the emails but did not disclose what information they contain or who potential buyers might be.
In a statement to the Daily Beast, FBI Director Kash Patel said: “The FBI takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness. Safeguarding our administration officials’ ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president’s mission is a top priority. Anyone associated with any kind of breach of national security will be fully investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Marci McCarthy, director of public affairs at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said a “hostile” foreign adversary was threatening to “illegally exploit purportedly stolen and unverified material in an effort to distract, discredit, and divide.”
“This so-called cyber ‘attack’ is nothing more than digital propaganda, and the targets are no coincidence,” McCarthy said. “This is a calculated smear campaign meant to damage President Trump and discredit honorable public servants who serve our country with distinction. These criminals will be found and they will be brought to justice. Let this be a warning to others: there will be no refuge, tolerance, or leniency for these actions.”
Reuters authenticated some emails obtained by the hacking group in the final months of the 2024 campaign.
These included details of a financial arrangement between Trump and attorneys representing former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—now Trump’s health secretary—as well as settlement negotiations between Trump and Daniels.
The Justice Department alleged in a September 2024 indictment that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were behind the Robert hacking group. The hackers declined to address these claims in online conversations with Reuters.
Trump’s campaign team accused Iran of hacking their emails and distributing a trove of sensitive information in August 2024. At least three news organizations—Politico, The New York Times, and The Washington Post—received the documents but did not report on their contents.
Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein later published materials handed to him on his Substack, allegedly obtained via the Iranian hack. The information included the Trump campaign team’s vetting of JD Vance before he was chosen as the Republican vice presidential candidate, as well as the vetting of Marco Rubio to head the State Department.
