What Idiot Let the Trump Campaign Get Hacked? This One.
Roger Stone’s email account was broken into by suspected hackers to try to gain access to the accounts of senior Trump campaign officials. Microsoft reported Friday that a “former senior adviser” of a presidential campaign had been successfully spear-phished. The next day, the Trump campaign announced that it had fallen victim to a hack in June. The campaign did not initially alert the FBI because the team distrusts the agency, people close to the campaign said.Multiple sources confirmed to CNN Tuesday that the adviser who’d been hacked was none other than Stone, a longtime GOP operative and self-proclaimed “agent provocateur.” A group of hackers were able to break into Stone’s email account in June, with the hopes of accessing his vast network, and using phishing emails as a means of entry into the Trump campaign’s inner workings—and it seems they were successful. The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Politico have all reported receiving stolen files from the Trump campaign, but as of yet have not reported on the contents of their bounty. “Mr. Stone was contacted about this matter by Microsoft and the FBI and continues to cooperate with both,” said Grant Smith, Stone’s lawyer, per CNN. “Mr. Stone will have no further comment at this time.”In a brief statement, Stone told the Post that he’d been informed by authorities that “a couple” of his personal email accounts had been accessed by the hackers. “I really don’t know more about it. And I’m cooperating. It’s all very strange.”Donald Trump, for his part, has blamed the hack on Iran, citing Microsoft’s report as its evidence. Microsoft declined to comment to NBC, citing its policy of not sharing client details without permission. While Iran has denied allegations that it was connected to the incident, the techniques associated with the hack are consistent with those used by Iranian hackers, according to CNN. Ultimately, it seems like Stone should’ve known better, given his prior brush with massive, campaign-damaging email hacks. It has been theorized that Stone allegedly knew about the 2016 hacking of emails from the Democratic National Committee, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta, before they were ever published by WikiLeaks, thanks to his “backchannel communications” with Julian Assange. This story has been updated.
Roger Stone’s email account was broken into by suspected hackers to try to gain access to the accounts of senior Trump campaign officials.
Microsoft reported Friday that a “former senior adviser” of a presidential campaign had been successfully spear-phished. The next day, the Trump campaign announced that it had fallen victim to a hack in June. The campaign did not initially alert the FBI because the team distrusts the agency, people close to the campaign said.
Multiple sources confirmed to CNN Tuesday that the adviser who’d been hacked was none other than Stone, a longtime GOP operative and self-proclaimed “agent provocateur.”
A group of hackers were able to break into Stone’s email account in June, with the hopes of accessing his vast network, and using phishing emails as a means of entry into the Trump campaign’s inner workings—and it seems they were successful.
The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Politico have all reported receiving stolen files from the Trump campaign, but as of yet have not reported on the contents of their bounty.
“Mr. Stone was contacted about this matter by Microsoft and the FBI and continues to cooperate with both,” said Grant Smith, Stone’s lawyer, per CNN. “Mr. Stone will have no further comment at this time.”
In a brief statement, Stone told the Post that he’d been informed by authorities that “a couple” of his personal email accounts had been accessed by the hackers. “I really don’t know more about it. And I’m cooperating. It’s all very strange.”
Donald Trump, for his part, has blamed the hack on Iran, citing Microsoft’s report as its evidence. Microsoft declined to comment to NBC, citing its policy of not sharing client details without permission.
While Iran has denied allegations that it was connected to the incident, the techniques associated with the hack are consistent with those used by Iranian hackers, according to CNN.
Ultimately, it seems like Stone should’ve known better, given his prior brush with massive, campaign-damaging email hacks.
It has been theorized that Stone allegedly knew about the 2016 hacking of emails from the Democratic National Committee, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta, before they were ever published by WikiLeaks, thanks to his “backchannel communications” with Julian Assange.
This story has been updated.
