President-elect Donald Trumps pick to lead the FBI Kash Patel was reportedly the targets of an Iranian hack
Patel was informed by the bureau that he had been targeted, according to two sources to CNN on Tuesday.
The hackers are believed to have accessed some of Patels communications, according to one of the sources.
The Trump transition team responded to the hack report with a statement to CNN but did not address the specifics of it directly.
Kash Patel was a key part of the first Trump administrations efforts against the terrorist Iranian regime and will implement President Trump’s policies to protect America from adversaries as the FBI Director, said spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer.
President-elect Donald Trumps pick for FBI director Kash Patel was reportedly targeted by Iranian hackers
Patel previously worked in the first Trump administration as chief of staff to the acting defense secretary after also serving on his National Security Council.
Trump announced on November 30 that Patel was his pick to be the next director of the FBI, replacing current director Christopher Wray.
This is not the first time members of Trumps team have been the target of foreign hackers.
Trumps son Donald Trump Jr. has also said he was notified by the bureau he was one of the top targets of Iran, according to CNN.
In late September, the Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging three Iranian hackers with targeting Trump campaign officials and others in an effort to interfere in the U.S. election.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche was targeted by Chinese hackers to tapped his phone, according to a report earlier this month
It was previously reported by CNN that Trumps pick for deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, who was one of his personal lawyers in the New York hush money case, was informed by the FBI last month that he was tapped by Chinese hackers.
The hackers were able to obtain some voice recordings and texts from the phone but the information was not related to Trump, according their source.
In October, the Trump campaign was informed Chinese hackers targeted the phones used by Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, according to a New York Times report.