Kash Patel, President-elect of Donald Trump chosen to lead the FBIwas recently informed that he was the target of a possible Iranian-backed cyberattack, two people familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News.
The apparent hackers targeted his communications, but whether they succeeded and how much access they had to the data are still being evaluated, the people said.
The FBI declined to comment. CBS News had also reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.
The news of Patel’s possible targeting by Iran was first reported by Semafor.
This comes next months of warnings of the FBI and other federal agencies investigating Iranian cyber activities targeting Trump campaign personnel ahead of the 2024 presidential election. In September, Justice Department prosecutors three members were contacted of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launched a broad hacking campaign against US officials, including those close to Trump.
In August, Microsoft said that Iran increased its efforts to influence the November elections, and in one case it targeted a presidential campaign with an email phishing attack.
Trump and his allies, including members of his first administration, have been targeted by Iran ever since the murder in 2020 of General Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, and U.S. officials have continued to warn about these cyberattack campaigns in recent months.
44-year-old Patel served in intelligence and defense roles during Trump’s first term, including chief of staff to the secretary of defense. He was also appointed by Trump as a representative to the National Archives and Records Administration and fought a subpoena to testify before a federal grand jury in the United States. Mar-a-Lago suitcase with secret documents.
He is a lawyer and staunch Trump loyalist who rose to prominence as an aide to former Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California in the battle the research about Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
He served on Trump’s National Security Council, then as a senior adviser to acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, and later as chief of staff to acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller.
