Overview
- Handala, which announced the leak Friday after U.S. seizures of its domains, posted personal emails and photos from Patel’s Gmail that mostly date from 2010 to 2019.
- The FBI said a private Gmail account was compromised, described the cache as historical with no government data, and noted active mitigation and an ongoing investigation.
- The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $10 million for tips identifying members of the Iran-linked Handala group.
- A viral clip said to show Patel dancing was debunked by fact-checkers, who traced the video to older posts that predate the hack and do not feature him.
- Tech reporters who verified headers in a small sample of leaked emails found messages forwarded from a DOJ address to Patel’s Gmail, a point under review that raises questions about work messages in personal accounts.