House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is demanding information from U.S. intelligence agencies related to Iran’s hack of former President Donald Trump’s campaign, warning that the U.S. adversary is trying to “tip the election” in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Johnson is requesting information on how the Trump campaign was susceptible to cyberattacks earlier this summer, according to a letter he sent to leaders of the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Friday. The letter follows a report last week that Iranian hackers disseminated stolen information from the Trump campaign in what Johnson called evidence that Iran is “highly motivated to prevent his election.”
“Iran hacked into the Trump campaign and distributed private information directly to the Biden campaign and to American media, which, like Iran, favors Kamala Harris,” Johnson wrote. “While your agency may have detected the hacking, several unanswered questions remain.”
Johnson is pressing the agencies to disclose how the cyberattacks occurred and the timeline of how quickly the hacking was detected and verified, according to the letter.
The three federal agencies previously said “unsolicited emails” were sent by Iran in late June and early July and “contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails.”
There’s no indication the recipients, associated with the Biden campaign, replied, according to the agencies. A campaign official told CNN none of the materials were used.
Now Johnson is demanding information on how the agencies are working to deter future attacks to ensure there is no foreign interference in U.S. elections.
“To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has not offered or executed any meaningful action to show our enemies such interference will not be tolerated, nor shared what steps, if any, it has taken to deter future attacks on Donald Trump or his campaign,” Johnson wrote. “With less than 45 days until the election, much more needs to be done to protect our nation’s sovereignty and stop Iran from tipping the election in favor of its preferred candidate. Confidence in our democratic system depends upon Americans’ ability to trust that the Intelligence Community is doing everything in its power to safeguard our campaigns from foreign interference.”
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Johnson requested answers from the agencies by Oct. 4. It’s not clear whether the agencies will comply with the request.
The FBI confirmed it received the letter but declined to comment further when asked by the Washington Examiner. Requests for comment were also sent to spokespeople for the DNI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.