Donald Trump has claimed he received intel briefings that Iran has made ‘real and specific threats’ to assassinate him.
The Republican presidential candidate’s campaign gave the chilling update Tuesday night, in a statement that painted the plans ‘as an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States.’
The bulletin was sent out by Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung, and claimed the ex-commander-in-chief had been briefed about the supposed plot.
This comes days after investigators found that Iranian ‘malicious cyber actors’ emailed associates of President Biden’s campaign with information ‘taken from stolen, non-public material from Trump’s campaign’ over the summer.
It also follows two failed assassination attempts on the aspiring two-term president, the most recent of which occurred just this month.
Donald Trump’s campaign claimed Iran has made ‘real and specific threats’ to assassinate him on Tuesday night.
‘President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,’ Cheung’s bulletin began.
‘Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure [he] is protected and the election is free from interference.
‘Make no mistake, the terror regime in Iran loves the weakness of Kamala Harris, and is terrified of the strength and resolve of President Trump,’ the senior Trump staffer continued.
‘He will let nothing stop him or get in his way to fight for the American people and to Make America Great Again.’
The statement did not offer any detail on the assassination plot, and has yet to be substantiated by the government.
Iran – the home of anti-Israel group Hezbollah- has previously denied all claims of meddling in US affairs.
However, just last week, multiple federal agencies discerned hackers from the country had sent emails containing stolen material from Trump’s campaign to people involved in Biden’s then re-election campaign.
The claims from Trump’s campaign come days after feds found that Iranian ‘malicious cyber actors’ emailed associates of President Biden’s campaign with information ‘taken from stolen, non-public material from Trump’s campaign’ over the summer
Officials painted the breach as being part of a broader effort by Tehran to influence the upcoming election, hence the Trump campaign’s comments Tuesday that Iran ‘is terrified’ by the prospect of another four years of the former president.
‘Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to US media organizations,’ the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Wednesday.
‘This malicious cyber activity is the latest example of Iran’s multi-pronged approach … to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process,’ the agencies added.
The joint statement went on to conceded that there was no information to suggest the recipients replied.
Officials also elected to not provide further details on the nature of the stolen material, as did President Biden.
He stepped aside as candidate in late July, before being replaced by Democratic Vice President Harris.
She is now poised to face-off Trump in a tight race come November, where several swing states appear to be up for grabs.
Officials also elected to not provide further details on the nature of the stolen material, as did President Biden
Politico, meanwhile, recently reported that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an anonymous account identified only as ‘Robert’, who passed along what appeared to be a research dossier that the campaign had apparently done on Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
The document was dated February 23, five months before Trump selected Vance as his running mate.
It remains unclear whether this document was part of the breach, which is still being vetted.
At the same time, feds are probing the recent assassination attempt on Trump at his Florida golf course, as well as the failed shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania back in July.
As of writing, there has been no indication the Iranian government was responsible, as the country continues to deny any involvement in the leaked materials.
Back in 2020, two Iranian men had impersonated members of the right-wing Proud Boys group as part of a voter intimidation effort, according to the FBI. They were later charged for their involvement.
In the same election year, Iranian hackers had breached a website used by a municipal government in the US to publish election results.
The attackers were caught before carrying out any nefarious activity, US cybersecurity officials later clarified.