Trump campaign, Musk coordinated to stop hacked material on X: Report
Former President Trump’s campaign worked with Elon Musk’s X to prevent links to hacked campaign materials from circulating on the social media platform last month, according to The New York Times.
After independent journalist Ken Klippenstein shared a link to the materials allegedly obtained in an Iranian hack of the Trump campaign, X suspended his account and blocked links to his Substack, where Klippenstein posted the materials.
An X spokesperson said at the time that Klippenstein violated its rules by posting “unredacted private personal information,” including Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) addresses and the majority of his Social Security number.
The news that X and the Trump campaign had coordinated to take down links to the materials — a 271-page document compiled by the campaign to vet Vance — prompted one Democratic congressman to express concern.
“So @Jim_Jordan and @SpeakerJohnson, when is the @Weaponization hearing about Trump and @ElonMusk censoring free speech on this platform?” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) wrote on X.
The House Judiciary’s weaponization subcommittee has held multiple hearings focused on the Biden administration’s alleged efforts to censor conservative speech online.
The materials Klippenstein published last month appear to have been obtained in a hack of the Trump campaign earlier this year. The campaign revealed in August it had been hacked, and the FBI later confirmed Iran was behind the breach.
The documents were shared with several media outlets, which opted not to publish them. Iran also attempted to share the materials with the Biden campaign, but staffers ignored the messages sent to their personal accounts that appeared to be phishing emails.
The revelation from the Times also comes as Musk, the richest person in the world, throws his weight behind Trump’s campaign.
The tech billionaire appeared alongside the former president at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend and plans to return to the battleground state several times in the next few weeks leading up to the election.
His appearances in the Keystone State will be backed by America PAC, the pro-Trump super PAC he founded that has raked in millions of dollars from his close allies in Silicon Valley. The super PAC is playing a key role in the Trump campaign’s ground game in swing states.