President Trump’s campaign’s claim that their internal communications were hacked by the Islamic Republic of Iran for the purposes of interfering in the election underscores the volatility of the race less than 100 days before America heads to the polls.   

Politico first reported that private messages sent between campaign staff were being sent to the press, as well. Among the files that were leaked to the public was a so-called “dossier” of opposition research on Trump’s running mate, Senator Vance. The document was more than 250 pages long, according to Politico. 

The Trump campaign’s allegations about Iranian interference in their internal communications came on the same day that Microsoft announced it had proof that the hostile nation was attempting to sow discord ahead of this year’s presidential election. 

“In recent weeks, groups connected with the Iranian government have upped two kinds of activity. First, they’ve laid the groundwork for influence campaigns on trending election-related topics and begun to activate these campaigns in an apparent effort to stir up controversy or sway voters — especially in swing states,” said the general manager of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, Clint Watts. 

“Second, they’ve launched operations that Microsoft assesses are designed to gain intelligence on political campaigns and help enable them to influence the elections in the future,” Mr. Watts added. 

Trump said in a statement on Truth Social that Microsoft reached out to his campaign to inform them about the interference.

“We were just informed by Microsoft Corporation that one of our many websites was hacked by the Iranian Government — Never a nice thing to do! They were only able to get publicly available information but, nevertheless, they shouldn’t be doing anything of this nature,” Trump wrote. 

“Iran and others will stop at nothing, because our Government is Weak and Ineffective, but it won’t be for long,” Trump added. “What Iran doesn’t realize is that I will make the World a better and safer place, and that’s good for them, also!”

In a statement to the BBC on Saturday, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said that the Iranians were brazenly trying to prevent the former president from retaking the White House. 

“These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election,” Mr. Cheung said. “The Iranians know that President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House.”

Politico first reported that the email leaks were being sent to the press — seemingly inadvertently — from a user who simply went by the name “Robert.” The dossier on Mr. Vance’s “potential vulnerabilities” was authenticated by the Trump campaign. 

The Microsoft report on the Iranian threat stated that the nation’s goals were “inciting chaos, undermining authorities, and sowing doubt about election integrity.”

A spokeswoman for President Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the alleged Iranian hack.