Staff Reports
House Speaker Mike Johnson is putting his foot down, demanding answers from U.S. intelligence agencies about the cyberattack from Iran aimed squarely at former President Donald Trump’s campaign. According to Johnson, this isn’t just some run-of-the-mill hacking incident; it appears to be a concerted effort by the Tehran regime to tip the scales in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris. Apparently, they think meddling in U.S. elections is just another Tuesday for them.
In a letter to the leaders of the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Johnson is on a mission to uncover how the Trump campaign became a soft target for these hackers. The letter follows a report revealing that Iranian hackers had disseminated stolen information from the Trump campaign, which Johnson pointed out as alarming evidence of Iran’s determination to stop a Trump re-election.
Are WE SICK AND TIRED YET of corruption from this administration? Iran wants Harris to be President. They hacked Trump's campaign and fed it to Harris… #Corruption @realDonaldTrump @tolmanbrett Hello FBI you showed the proof so let's look up the word #Justice pic.twitter.com/IqA3ZbAeIi
— Red Trumper 🗽🎺🎺🎺🗽 (@Redhead4645) September 19, 2024
Quite the plot twist: Iranian hackers allegedly breached Trump’s campaign and then handed that private information directly to the Biden campaign and the media, both of which, according to Johnson, have their eyes firmly set on electing Kamala Harris. Given the current state of affairs, Johnson is holding the intelligence agencies accountable, demanding clarity on how such a breach could occur and how quickly the agencies reacted to this foreign interference.
In a classic display of federal agency optimism, the three intelligence organizations reported that Iran sent unsolicited emails in late June and early July, including snippets from the hacked material. However, they added, there’s no evidence to suggest that the recipients—who, shockingly, had connections to the Biden campaign—ever responded, and a campaign official even said none of the materials were utilized. It’s almost as if they want to portray this situation as a non-issue, but it hardly seems that way when a foreign adversary is involved.
Johnson is also questioning what the Biden-Harris administration has done—if anything—to signal to foreign adversaries that such vile interference in U.S. elections won’t be tolerated. With an election less than 45 days away, his concerns are clear: there’s a need for more robust protections to safeguard America’s democracy and national sovereignty against adversarial threats. As Johnson pointed out, the trust Americans put in the democratic process hinges on their confidence in the intelligence community’s ability to fend off these foreign attacks.
Now it’s a waiting game to see if the intelligence agencies will actually comply with Johnson’s request for information by October 4. The FBI acknowledged receiving the letter but wisely chose not to elaborate further, while the other agencies followed suit, opting for silence. One might wonder if they’re too busy coordinating their next grand briefing on how to do nothing effectively.
