Authored by José Niño via Headline USA,
Hackers claiming ties to Iran say they possess 100GB of emails from President Donald Trump’s inner circle and may soon leak or sell the trove, after previously distributing a batch to the media before the 2024 U.S. election.
In online conversations with Reuters on Sunday and Monday, the hackers—who use the pseudonym “Robert”—claimed to possess about 100 gigabytes of emails from the accounts of “White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, Trump adviser Roger Stone and porn star-turned-Trump antagonist Stormy Daniels.”
Robert mentioned the potential of selling the material but did not provide further details about their plans or the content of the emails.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi described the breach as “an unconscionable cyber-attack.”
The White House and FBI responded with a statement from FBI Director Kash Patel, who said:
“Anyone associated with any kind of breach of national security will be fully investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) posted on X that “This so-called cyber ‘attack’ is nothing more than digital propaganda, and the targets are no coincidence. This is a calculated smear campaign meant to damage President Trump and discredit honorable public servants who serve our country with distinction”
A hostile foreign adversary is threatening to illegally exploit purportedly stolen and unverified material in an effort to distract, discredit, and divide. This so-called cyber ‘attack’ is nothing more than digital propaganda, and the targets are no coincidence. This is a… https://t.co/P30ZqhZMq0
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 1, 2025
Robert first appeared during the final months of the 2024 presidential campaign, claiming to have breached the email accounts of several Trump allies, including Wiles, and subsequently distributed emails to journalists.
Reuters authenticated some of the leaked material, including an email that appeared to show a financial arrangement between Trump and lawyers for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now Trump’s health secretary.
Other documents included Trump campaign communications about Republican candidates and discussions of settlement negotiations with Daniels. Although the leaks received some media attention, they did not fundamentally alter the outcome of the presidential race, which Trump won.
A September 2024 indictment from the U.S. Justice Department alleged that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards ran the Robert hacking operation.
After Trump’s election, Robert told Reuters that no more leaks were planned. As recently as May, the hackers said, “I am retired, man.” However, the group resumed communication after the recent 12-day air war between Israel and Iran, which ended with U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites. In recent messages, Robert said they were organizing a sale of the stolen emails and wanted Reuters to “broadcast this matter.”
Frederick Kagan, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, commented that Iranian spies may be seeking retaliation through means unlikely to provoke further U.S. or Israeli military action, stating, “A default explanation is that everyone’s been ordered to use all the asymmetric stuff that they can that’s not likely to trigger a resumption of major Israeli/U.S. military activity. Leaking a bunch more emails is not likely to do that.”
Despite concerns about potential digital attacks, Iran’s hackers maintained a low profile during the conflict, though U.S. cyber officials warned that American companies and critical infrastructure operators might still be at risk from Iranian operations.
Over the last year, American-Iranian relations has reached new lows. Headline USA has reported on multiple instances of alleged Iranian plots to assassinate Trump, all in an effort to get the United States into a direct confrontation with Iran.
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