The Biden-Harris campaign is facing sharp criticism for its handling of stolen material from Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign. Federal agencies, including the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, recently revealed that foreign hackers had sent stolen Trump campaign information to members of Biden’s team. The hackers, identified as Iranian actors, sent emails containing sensitive data between June and July 2020.
While the Biden campaign did not respond to the emails, the fact that they failed to report the situation to law enforcement has raised questions about their handling of the incident. Critics argue that the Biden-Harris team should have immediately alerted authorities, regardless of whether they opened or used the stolen information.
According to the joint statement from the FBI and other agencies, the hackers also attempted to share this stolen material with U.S. media outlets in an effort to disrupt the election process. The hackers were part of a broader foreign effort to meddle in the 2020 election.
Politico, which reported on the situation, noted that the Biden campaign did not proactively reach out to law enforcement after receiving the emails. Instead, the authorities contacted them after discovering the breach. Although the Biden team denied using any of the stolen data, the lack of transparency has led to calls for better accountability in handling foreign interference.
The Biden-Harris campaign’s decision not to report the emails raises concerns about how campaigns respond to potential foreign meddling. Many believe that alerting authorities immediately would have been the responsible action, especially in an election environment where security is critical.
As foreign interference remains a major threat to U.S. elections, this incident has drawn attention to the need for campaigns to act swiftly and transparently when confronted with hacked materials.
