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  • The indictment targets three members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
  • The attorney general says the attack was aimed at undermining Trump’s campaign.
  • The charges include wire fraud, identity theft and computer fraud.
WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department on Friday dropped criminal charges against three members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards accused of hacking. Donald Trump’s Trying to disrupt the presidential campaign. Election on November 5.
The indictment is the latest effort by the Biden administration to counter foreign efforts to interfere in the election between former President Trump, a Republican, and his Democratic vice presidential rival. Kamala Harris.

Iran said on Thursday that allegations that it targeted former US officials were baseless.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference Friday that the three men — Masoud Jalili, Seyed Ali Aghamiri and Yasser Balaghi — were trying to undermine the Trump campaign.

“We are seeing increasingly aggressive Iranian cyber activity in this election cycle,” he said.

The indictment alleges that the three men used fake email accounts to trick multiple campaign officials into believing they were working with a reliable source, and then get them to click on those links. asked to do, which allowed hackers to steal emails and other internal documents such as discussion preparation materials. and profiles of potential vice presidential candidates.

He then leaked the information to media outlets and to President Joe Biden’s campaign while he was still a candidate, the indictment said.

The charges include wire fraud, identity theft and computer fraud. The US Treasury Department also said it was imposing sanctions on the three men as well as several other members of the Revolutionary Guard.

Trump’s campaign Said in August It was hacked by Iran but said the criminals were not able to get private information. However, several news outlets have said they have refused to publish internal campaign documents that were provided to them.

The indictment states that Biden campaign officials also did not respond when Trump debate preparation materials were presented shortly before the two candidates met on June 27.

The ban is in stark contrast to the 2016 election, when hacked communications from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign received widespread coverage.

Iranian hacking team known as APT42 or Charming Kitten. Installing monitoring software On mobile phones that allows them to record calls, steal texts and silently turn on cameras and microphones, the researchers say.

All three men are currently in Iran and beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement, but Garland noted that the Justice Department has successfully arrested other international suspects long after they were indicted. .

He said that we will follow these people for the rest of our lives.

The Justice Department says Iran’s efforts are not limited to the digital realm. A Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran pleaded not guilty earlier this month to terrorism charges in retaliation for the 2020 killing of a top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a U.S. politician that officials say. There was a plot to kill

According to one source, the defendant named Trump as a possible target, but there are no indications that he had anything to do with the two recent attempts on Trump’s life.

The Department of Justice has also been targeted. Russian efforts. Criminal charges and sanctions against employees of state media outlet RT for allegedly funding pro-Trump social media influencers in the United States for tampering with the election.

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Additional reporting by Jasper Ward and Christopher Bing; Edited by Scott Malone, Bill Berkrot and Alastair Bell

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Andy covers politics and policy in Washington. His work has been referenced in Supreme Court briefs, political attack ads and at least one Saturday Night Live skit.



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