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Yes: Donald Trump publicly asked Russia to find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails in 2016 and later praised WikiLeaks’ releases of documents stolen by Russian military intelligence, according to a 2019 House Intelligence Committee report. In 2024, U.S. intelligence agencies attributed a reported compromise of Trump’s campaign to Iran. The episodes share a hack-and-leak theme, but the record does not establish that they were identical in methods, scale or effect.
What Trump said about Clinton’s emails in 2016
At a July 27, 2016 rally, then-candidate Trump said: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing” from Clinton’s personal server. The 2019 House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence report records the remark and says Russian hackers targeted Clinton’s personal office within hours. The committee cites the Mueller report for that sequence.
The committee report also says Russian military intelligence stole documents that WikiLeaks released to damage Clinton’s campaign. It says Trump repeatedly praised and sought to capitalize on the releases, even after Russia’s role was widely reported. The report counted more than 150 of Trump’s public references to the Russia-hacked, WikiLeaks-released emails in the final month of the campaign. That figure is the committee’s 2019 account, not a count attributed to Mueller.
Mueller’s conclusion, quoted by the committee, was: “The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.”
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What U.S. agencies said happened to Trump’s campaign in 2024
In a joint statement on August 19, 2024, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency attributed the reported compromise of Trump’s campaign to Iran. They described the access-seeking activity as part of efforts intended to influence the election.
On September 18, the agencies said Iranian actors had sent unsolicited emails in late June and early July to people then associated with Joe Biden’s campaign. The messages included an excerpt from stolen, nonpublic Trump campaign material. The agencies said they had no information indicating that the recipients replied. They also said the actors continued trying to send stolen material to U.S. media organizations.
What was stolen, and what was allegedly done with it?
The Department of Justice said on September 27, 2024, that an indictment charged three Iranian nationals in connection with an alleged operation targeting accounts associated with a U.S. presidential campaign. According to DOJ’s description of the indictment, it alleges unauthorized access, theft of nonpublic campaign documents and emails, and efforts to distribute that material to media and people associated with another campaign.
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The agency statements and DOJ announcement describe campaign material and an excerpt from it; they do not reproduce the documents or establish their full contents. The indictment’s claims are allegations, not a conviction. The September 27, 2024 DOJ announcement does not describe a later court disposition.
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How the two episodes compare
| Question | 2016 Clinton-email episode | 2024 Trump-campaign episode |
|---|---|---|
| Actor and attribution | The 2019 House Intelligence Committee report says Russian military intelligence stole documents later released by WikiLeaks. | ODNI, FBI and CISA attributed the reported campaign compromise to Iran in August 2024. DOJ’s September 2024 announcement described allegations against three Iranian nationals. |
| Material and target | Emails and documents stolen by Russian military intelligence; Russian hackers targeted Clinton’s personal office within hours of Trump’s July 27 appeal, according to the committee report. | Nonpublic campaign documents and emails allegedly stolen from accounts associated with a U.S. presidential campaign, according to DOJ’s description of the indictment. |
| Disclosure or distribution | WikiLeaks released the stolen documents; the committee report says Trump repeatedly praised and sought to capitalize on the releases. | Agencies said an excerpt was emailed to people then associated with Biden’s campaign and that actors continued trying to send material to U.S. media. |
| Recipient response | The committee report describes Trump’s public response to the releases. | Agencies said they had no information indicating that the Biden-campaign recipients replied. |
| What the cited record establishes | The House committee’s 2019 report documents the appeal and describes the Russian theft and WikiLeaks releases, citing the Mueller report. | The intelligence agencies made an attribution; the criminal conduct described by DOJ was alleged in an indictment, not established by a conviction in that announcement. |
What the comparison does—and does not—show
Both episodes involve foreign access to campaign material and efforts to use disclosure or attempted distribution in an election. The 2016 account documents Trump’s public appeal to Russia and his subsequent praise for releases tied to Russian military intelligence. In 2024, the agencies attributed the compromise of his campaign to Iran, while DOJ described alleged attempts to circulate stolen material.
That comparison is about the public record and the use of campaign information. It does not establish that the operations had the same methods, scope, consequences or effect on voters. Nor does the account of emails sent to Biden-campaign associates show that those recipients accepted or used the material.
What campaigns and election stakeholders can do
The August 2024 ODNI, FBI and CISA statement recommended basic account and message security practices. Its guidance was general advice, not a claim that any particular product would have prevented the alleged operation.
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- Use official email accounts for official business.
- Keep software updated.
- Verify suspicious messages before opening links or attachments.
- Report suspected election-related cyber activity through FBI and CISA channels, as the agencies’ statement advises.
What DOJ announced about a reward
In its September 27, 2024 announcement, DOJ said the State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program was offering up to $10 million for information about the named defendants, Iran’s election interference or associated people and entities. That is the maximum amount reported in the dated announcement; it does not establish whether the offer remains active now.
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