Trump campaign overstates intelligence to accuse Iran of favoring Harris

Republican nominee Donald Trump’s campaign on Tuesday pushed beyond U.S. intelligence assessments of Iranian interference in the presidential election in an effort to disparage his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Officials with the director of National Intelligence briefed Trump on Tuesday about “real and specific threats” by Iran to assassinate him with the goal of destabilizing the United States and sowing chaos, campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.

The ODNI, in joint statements with the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has described Iran becoming “increasingly aggressive” in undertaking a “multipronged approach … to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process.” In August, federal prosecutors charged a Pakistani man with an Iranian-backed murder-for-hire plot targeting an unidentified U.S. politician.

Cheung’s account of the briefing was consistent with intelligence officials’ public description of intensifying Iranian efforts to stoke discord. He also restated that law enforcement agencies across the government are working to protect Trump and prevent foreign election interference.

But Cheung then went further, claiming without evidence that Iran wanted Harris to win the election. “Make no mistake, the terror regime in Iran loves the weakness of Kamala Harris, and is terrified of the strength and resolve of President Trump,” Cheung said.

The Biden administration had previously alerted the Secret Service of an unspecified threat to Trump by Iran before an assassination attempt on the former president in Pennsylvania in July, though the shooting is not believed to be related to any Iranian effort, U.S. officials said.

For the past few years, Western security and law enforcement agencies said they have disrupted attempts to assassinate anti-Iran activists as well as former U.S. officials, including John Bolton, who was Trump’s national security adviser. Officials have said that plots against former Trump administration officials are driven by Iran’s desire to retaliate for the killing of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, which Trump ordered in 2020.

Intelligence officials have said Iran views this presidential election as “particularly consequential” for its national security, but they have not said whether Iran has a preferred candidate.

There was no evidence of Iranian involvement in the two assassination attempts on Trump, on July 13 in Butler, Pa., and Sept. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Other Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have also accused Iran of favoring Harris.

An ODNI spokesperson acknowledged the briefing but declined to address any specifics.

Deprecating Harris as “weak” has been a core message of Trump’s campaign since she replaced Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee in July. The word “weak” frequently appears as a tagline in Trump campaign ads. In a July interview, Trump proposed Harris’s appearance as a reason for arguing she would not be able to hold her own with world leaders.

“She’ll be like a play toy,” Trump said in the Fox News interview. “They’re going to walk all over her.” He then turned to look at the camera and added: “I don’t want to say as to why. But a lot of people understand it.”

On Sept. 18, ODNI, the FBI and CISA said Iranian hackers stole information from the Trump campaign and tried to supply it to reporters and to people associated with the Biden campaign. There was no indication that the recipients associated with the Biden campaign responded.

The joint statement said Russia and China are also trying to exploit divisions in the United States during election seasons.

Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.