Hackers have stolen $2.3 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party account that was used to help re-elect President Donald Trump, party Chairman Andrew Hitt told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The party noticed the suspicious activity on Oct. 22 and contacted the FBI on Friday, Republican Party Chairman Andrew Hitt said.
Hitt said the FBI is investigating the case. FBI spokesman Brett Banner said that, by policy, “the FBI is not allowed to confirm or deny an investigation.” The Wisconsin Department of Justice, which has a center focused on cyberattacks that is able to provide its services if requested to assist, has not been called in to investigate the situation, spokeswoman Rebecca Ballweg said.
The alleged hack was discovered less than two weeks before Election, as Trump and his rival Jon Biden made a final push to win the Wisconsin state. Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 by less than 23,000 votes and has scheduled his third visit for today. Biden will also visit Wisconsin today. Polls have shown the race to be close, with Biden typically leading by a narrow margin.
Wisconsin campaign officials learned about the alleged breach from media reports and were outraged that state officials did not inform them of how it might affect them.
However, Trump campaign strategy director Nick Trainer said that national campaign officials were notified immediately. “I personally received a call notifying me as a senior campaign official ,” he said
There were more than 800 attempted financially motivated phishing attacks targeting the Wisconsin Democratic Party, but none were successful, party spokeswoman Courtney Beyer said.
The alleged hack is “certainly embarrassing” for Republicans, said Matt Rothschild, leader of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, an independent group that tracks campaign donations and spending.
Hitt stressed that the stolen money was intended for services that had already been provided. Hitt said the hackers altered the details of four vendors that were being paid for direct mailers aimed at Trump’s reelection, as well as for pro-Trump materials such as hats distributed to supporters. The invoices and other documents were altered so that when the party paid them, the money went to the hackers instead of the vendors, Hitt said.
It was discovered after someone noticed a discrepancy on an invoice, he said. Hitt said it appears the attack began as a phishing attempt and no data appears to have been stolen , party spokesman Alec Zimmerman said.
The money was stolen from the state party’s federal account , which currently holds about $1.1 million, but that number changes daily because of the rapid movement of funds in the campaign, Zimmerman said. Campaign finance reports filed this week in Wisconsin show that Democrats have raised far more money than Republicans. The state Democratic Party has raised nearly $59 million over the past two years compared to just $23.7 million for Republicans.
