CNN
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One of Donald Trump’s lawyers was the target of a hacking attack, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN, a potentially serious new development after American intelligence agencies confirmed on Monday that they had concluded that Iran was behind a recent hacking attack on the former president’s 2024 campaign.
A source told CNN that Lindsey Halligan was targeted in the Iranian hacking, but the timing of the attack and the extent of any possible breach of her devices or accounts remain unclear as the FBI conducts a high-risk investigation months before the presidential election.
CNN had previously reported that suspected Iranian hackers had broken into the personal email account of longtime Trump ally Roger Stone and then used his email account to access the account of a senior campaign official.
Halligan has been part of Trump’s legal team for several years, initially working closely on the secret documents case. She recently attended the Republican National Convention and sat in the front row of the VIP box on the final evening when Trump gave his speech.
Although she is not as public as other lawyers, Halligan is viewed internally as a “Trump whisperer,” one of her former colleagues told CNN. Trump trusted her and often wanted her at the table at important moments. Others often turned to her to pass on messages to him.
In addition, she has previously participated in high-level meetings at the Ministry of Justice with other members of his legal team.
“These reports of the attempted hacking of President Trump’s team by the Iranian terror regime follow recent revelations of an Iranian plot to assassinate President Trump around the same time as the tragedy in Butler, Pennsylvania. Iranians are terrified that President Trump will end their reign of terror, just as he did during his first four years in the White House. Any media or news outlets that reprint documents or internal communications are doing so on behalf of America’s enemies and doing exactly what they want,” Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, said in a statement to CNN.
The FBI declined to comment.
On Monday, the FBI and other U.S. intelligence agencies confirmed that the U.S. government had concluded that the Iranian government was behind the hacking attacks on Trump’s presidential campaign and had also attempted to target the Biden-Harris campaign.
“The IC believes that the Iranians have attempted, through social engineering and other efforts, to gain access to individuals with direct access to the presidential campaigns of both parties. Such activities, including thefts and disclosures, are aimed at influencing the U.S. electoral process,” the FBI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a statement on Monday.
The Iranian UN mission on Monday rejected what it considered “unproven” allegations that the Iranian government was behind the hacker attack.
The Trump campaign has been in contact with the FBI regarding the hacking and was recently briefed on the agency’s preliminary findings, but given Trump’s serious distrust of the agency, there have been doubts about how closely the two teams have worked together.
