FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks during a news conference over ransomware cyberattack at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC on November 8, 2021.
Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty Images
A federal grand jury in New York has indicted two Iranian nationals on charges related to a cyber-based disinformation effort that to intimidate and influence American voters to benefit the presidential re-election campaign of Donald Trump last year.
“You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you,” said one threatening email sent to tens of thousands of Democratic voters, according to prosecutors.
The emails purported to be sent from the Proud Boys, an actual racist group in the United States that supported Trump during the election.
The two men are accused of obtaining confidential voter information from at least one state’s election website, getting data on more than 100,000 voters.
They additionally are accused of sending intimidating emails to voters, and disseminating a video that contained disinformation about purported vulnerabilities in the election infrastructure, according to the Justice Department.
Prosecutors said the duo also gained unauthorized access to a U.S. media company’s computer network as part of their effort.
“If not for successful FBI and victim company efforts to mitigate [that intrusion, it] would have provided the conspirators another vehicle to disseminate false claims after the election,” the Department of Justice said.
Seyyed Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazemi, 24, and 27-year-old, Sajjad Kashian are charged in a five-count indictment with conspiracy to commit fraud against US, computer fraud, voter intimidation, and transmission of interstate threats.
The two “experienced Iran-based hackers” worked for a cybersecurity company that provided services to the Iranian government, the Department of Justice said.
The indictment appears to at least partly contradict the 2020 claim from a leading intelligence official in the Trump administration, William Evanina, who said Iran opposed Trump’s reelection.
The indictment, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, “details how two Iran-based actors waged a targeted, coordinated campaign to erode confidence in the integrity of the U.S. electoral system and to sow discord among Americans,” said Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s National Security Division, in the press release.
According to prosecutors, the men told voters in email that, “We are in possession of all your information (email , address, telephone … everything).”
“You are currently registered as a Democrat and we know this because we have gained access into the entire voting infrastructure. You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you.”
“Change your party affiliation to Republican to let us know you received our message and will comply,” the email went on to say. “We will know which candidate you voted for. I would take this seriously if I were you.”
Just a few weeks before the 2020 election, John Ratcliffe, Trump’s final director of national intelligence, scheduled a news conference with little warning to declare that Iran was sending “spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and damage” Trump.
Shortly before that news conference was arranged, The Washington Post reported that U.S. officials had warned authorities about Iranian efforts to send threatening emails to Democratic voters while posing as members of the far-right group the Proud Boys.
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
