Washington, D.C. – A hacker group allegedly linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has threatened to release a fresh tranche of emails stolen from key figures within former U.S. President Donald Trump’s inner circle, reviving cyber tensions in the aftermath of a volatile Middle East conflict.
Operating under the alias Robert, the group told Reuters over the weekend that it holds approximately 100 gigabytes of emails from prominent Trump allies — including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trump attorney Lindsey Halligan, political operative Roger Stone, and Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress whose legal battles with Trump once gripped headlines.
The hackers, whose activities U.S. authorities have characterized as part of a foreign cyberespionage campaign, did not detail the content of the newly held material but hinted at intentions to sell the data. “I am organizing a sale,” Robert wrote, calling on media outlets to amplify the matter.
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice responded swiftly. FBI Director Kash Patel issued a statement emphasizing, “Anyone associated with any kind of breach of national security will be fully investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi condemned the breach as “an unconscionable cyber-attack,” while the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) dismissed the incident as part of a “calculated smear campaign” targeting Trump and his political apparatus.
The renewed threats follow a brief retirement claim by the hackers earlier this year and come just weeks after a 12-day aerial conflict between Israel and Iran that culminated in U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Analysts suggest the timing is no coincidence.
“This appears to be a textbook case of asymmetric retaliation,” said Frederick Kagan, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “With direct military options curtailed, Tehran’s cyber units may be looking to damage U.S. credibility and disrupt political stability without triggering further escalation.”
The Robert group first emerged during the final stretch of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, when it distributed previously unseen emails to select journalists. Among the authenticated materials was correspondence allegedly detailing a financial arrangement between Trump and lawyers representing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now serves as U.S. Health Secretary. Other leaked documents included sensitive discussions about Republican campaigns and settlement talks involving Daniels.
Despite media interest, the leaks did not significantly alter the trajectory of the 2024 race, which Trump ultimately won.
In a September 2024 indictment, the U.S. Justice Department directly linked Robert to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards — a claim the hackers have neither confirmed nor denied in recent communications.
Representatives for Lindsey Halligan, Roger Stone, and Stormy Daniels declined to comment. Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations did not respond to inquiries. Tehran has consistently denied involvement in cyberespionage activities, though Western intelligence agencies remain skeptical.
As tensions simmer, U.S. cyber defense officials warned this week that Iranian-backed digital actors may still target American infrastructure. The specter of hybrid warfare — where data breaches replace bombs and disinformation undermines diplomacy — looms large.
For now, the world watches as the Robert saga continues to blur the line between espionage and electoral interference, while raising fresh concerns about the resilience of democracies in the digital age.
(Inputs from Reueters and others)
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Global Affairs Desk at The Chenab Times covers international developments, global diplomacy, and foreign policy issues through fact-based reporting, explainers, and analytical pieces. The desk focuses on major geopolitical events, diplomatic engagements, and international trends, with an emphasis on verified information, multiple perspectives, and contextual understanding of global affairs.
