Kash Patel, who previously served as Chief of Staff to the Defense Secretary, was informed by the FBI that he had become the target of a cyberattack orchestrated by Iranian hackers. This revelation was made public by two senior law enforcement officials in a conversation with NBC News. While the specific timing of the cyberattack remains uncertain, it is known that the incident occurred prior to Patel being announced as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the next FBI director role.
These hackers are particularly suspected of trying to breach Patel’s communications. However, it’s not clear whether they succeeded in accessing them, nor is there any definitive information about the extent of data that might have been compromised or extracted. Maintaining their standard protocol, the FBI has opted not to comment on this active investigation.
In an intriguing turn of events, for Patel to assume the role, current FBI Director Christopher Wray—whose official term runs until 2027—would have to either resign or be removed from the position, which would then require Senate confirmation for the new appointment.
Without making direct reference to the suggested cyberattack, Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for Trump’s transition team, stated, “Kash Patel was integral to the first Trump administration’s strategy in combating threats from the Iranian regime. As FBI Director, he will carry forward President Trump’s agenda to safeguard the United States from its adversaries.”
Just a month earlier, three Iranian operatives faced charges for allegedly hacking the Trump presidential campaign—an effort the Justice Department identified as part of a broader mission to destabilize the U.S. election. These operatives, allegedly working with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were accused of pilfering emails and documents, passing them along to various media outlets.
Furthermore, the FBI, alongside other law enforcement and intelligence bodies, had verified that Iranian hackers had unpromptedly disseminated the data they had illicitly obtained from the Trump campaign to individuals associated with the campaign of then-President Joe Biden. Officials, however, noted that there was no indication any of the recipients had engaged with the provided material.
