Inside Iran's Campaign To Stop Trump

• Donald Trump’s campaign was hacked, and confidential documents to the press were leaked

• Iran is working against Trump to sow discord in the election

• Democrats are giving Iran everything they want and more so in recent years, increasing the likelihood that Iran will try to prevent a Trump victory

The story

The Donald Trump presidential campaign confirmed on Saturday that it had been hacked. Trump attributed the breach to "foreign sources hostile to the United States." The hacker leaked numerous internal communications and sent them to mainstream, left-of-center news publications.

Politico and other media outlets claimed they began receiving emails last month via an AOL email address from a source calling itself "Robert." The source shared internal Trump campaign documents, including a 270-page dossier on Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) titled “Potential Vulnerabilities.”

The document highlighted potential issues with Vance, like past critiques of Trump, and contained vetting information on Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). The source’s methods of obtaining the documents are unclear, but the breach represents a serious security concern for Trump’s campaign.

Just before the story broke, Microsoft issued this statement: “Groups connected with the Iranian government” have been intensifying operations to sway the election away from Trump, specifically attempting to influence voters in swing states.

Though there isn’t sufficient evidence to determine conclusively that Iran hacked Trump’s campaign, American intelligence recently detected “Tehran working to influence the presidential election.” Iran's preferences appear unchanged since 2020, when it actively opposed Donald Trump’s election.

The politics

An MSNBC panel appeared highly skeptical about Trump campaign claims of being hacked by Iran. Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) said, “Everyone’s initial reaction should be ‘we can’t believe him.’” When show host Symone Sanders Townsend — former Bernie Sanders campaign spokeswoman — pushed back against the guests’ skepticism, they doubled down.

“I could hack myself if I want,” said former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele, insinuating that the Trump team could be lying. In his view, given Trump's “history of dishonesty,” people shouldn’t take his team's claim at face value.

Meanwhile, many Republicans are outraged that Iran is using every tool at its disposal to take down Trump — but are not surprised.

Rep. Mike Walz (R-FL) argued that, if Iranians hacked Trump, it would align with their previous and ongoing efforts to destroy him — both figuratively and literally. Just last month, a Pakistani man with ties to Iran was arrested for allegedly plotting to kill Trump. For weeks leading up to the former president’s near-assassination, American intelligence was aware of Iranian intent to assassinate him.

What the media ignores

Iran has deep ties to the Biden administration and has benefited immensely from President Biden, as well as from the administration of his Democrat predecessor, Barack Obama.

Eight times in the past year alone, the White House hosted Pentagon official Ariane Tabatabai — who is at the center of an Iranian influence operation — even after her connections to the Iranian government were revealed.

Despite these alarming ties, Tabatabai attended multiple meetings organized by the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office, raising serious concerns about why someone with close ties to Iran has access to classified information.

In March, the Biden administration signed off on a sanctions waiver that unfroze $10 million for Iran. During Obama’s tenure, he sent Iran $400 million to secure the release of American hostages, and tagged on an extra $1.3 billion in interest payments.

Just recently, Iran reported $15.7 billion in profits from illegal oil sales, as the Biden administration’s enforcement of remaining sanctions remains woefully lax.

Biden’s willingness to pump the Iranian regime with cash has global implications, making the world more dangerous and chaotic. Iran annually funds its terrorist proxies Hamas and Hezbollah $100 million and $700 million, respectively.

Iran has been attempting to eliminate Trump since he ordered the strike that killed its top military commander, Qasem Soleimani in 2020. As Iran continues to meddle in US elections, it’s logical to assume that it will meddle in favor of Democrats like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Why it matters

The Biden administration made the Iranian regime vastly wealthy. Democrats have empowered Iran, handing over billions of dollars for nefarious purposes like spreading terrorism and meddling in U.S. elections. Beyond merely expanding its interference efforts, Iran is actively attempting to terminate the leader of the Republican Party.

Americans have every reason to worry — not only about free and fair elections but, due to foreign tampering, also that major political representatives could be killed at the hands of external powers.