FBI links Iran to online hit list targeting top officials who’ve refuted Trump’s election fraud claims
By Ellen Nakashima, Amy Gardner and Aaron C. Davis,
Drew Angerer Getty Images
The FBI has concluded that Iran was behind online efforts earlier this month to incite violence against the bureau’s director, a former top U.S. cyber expert and multiple state elections officials who’ve refuted claims of widespread voter fraud promoted by President Trump and his allies, federal and state officials said Tuesday.
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and ousted Homeland Security Department official Christopher Krebs were among more than a dozen people whose images, home addresses and other personal information were posted on a website, Enemies of the People.
[‘A dark, empty place:’ Public officials face personal threats as tensions flare]
These officials had in one way or another attested to the security of the 2020 election, either before or after, saying they had not seen evidence of widespread fraud — a conclusion at odds with President Trump’s baseless claims that the election was rigged.
“The following individuals have aided and abetted the fraudulent election against Trump,” the website said.
Iran was active in seeking to interfere in the U.S. election, in October targeting Democratic voters with faked but menacing emails that purported to be from a far-right group threatening the recipients to vote for Trump “or we will come after you.”
Iran condemned the revelations, made by the top U.S. intelligence official, as “baseless” and “absurd.”
[U.S. government concludes Iran was behind threatening emails sent to Democrats]
The hit list falsely accused swing-state governors, voting systems executives, Krebs and Wray as being responsible for “changing votes and working against the President” in a treasonous attempt to “overthrow our democracy.”
It was shared on social media, with the hashtags #remembertheirfaces and #NoQuarterForTraitors.
Greg Nash
Bloomberg
Christopher Krebs, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in Washington last week.
Krebs, who had been vocal about tamping down unfounded claims of ballot fraud, was fired by Trump last month. As head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency within DHS, he led successful efforts to help state and local election offices protect their systems an rebut misinformation.
One state official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly, said the FBI has been placing calls to those targeted on the web page to inform them that Iran was behind the effort. The agency plans to make an announcement Wednesday.
Several of those targeted received the following statement from the bureau: “The FBI is in possession of highly credible information indicating Iranian advanced persistent threat actors were almost certainly responsible for the creation of a website, called ‘Enemies of the People’ containing death threats aimed at U.S. election officials in mid-December 2020.”
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dalton Bennett contributed to this report.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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