US intelligence: Russia seeks Trump's victory in US elections, Iran - Harris
Kyiv • UNN
U.S. intelligence warns of increased foreign influence on the U.S. election. Russia wants Trump to win, Iran supports Harris, and China is focused on local elections.
American voters are likely to be targeted by a flood of disinformation and influence campaigns planned by US adversaries to distort the results of the upcoming presidential election and cast doubt on the process itself. Russia continues to conduct influence campaigns to increase the chances of former US President Donald Trump. Iran's efforts are aimed at helping the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, according to senior U.S. intelligence officials, Voice of America reports UNN.
Details
“We continue to see actors intensify their activities as we get closer to Election Day,” said a senior U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“They understand that people are already voting, and operations can have a bigger impact as we get closer to Election Day,” the official said, noting that the election itself can only be a starting point.
According to him, U.S. intelligence expects “foreign actors to continue their campaigns, questioning the validity of the election results after the polls close.
A second U.S. intelligence official warned that the pace of such attempts at influence, especially those targeting specific races or political campaigns, has also increased. “We're seeing a more than threefold increase,” the official said, explaining that the number of private briefings for candidates and campaigns has also increased.
Intelligence agencies have also warned that U.S. adversaries are likely to take advantage of the damage caused by Hurricane Helene and the potential damage from Hurricane Milton, which is strengthening off the U.S. coast, to further amplify and create narratives designed to undermine confidence in the election results.
U.S. officials said Monday that Russia, Iran and China remain responsible for most attempts to influence U.S. voters. U.S. adversaries are stepping up efforts to influence the outcome of the next election and, they said, there is no indication that any of these countries have changed their goals.
Russia, according to them, continues to conduct influence campaigns aimed at improving the chances of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, while seeking to harm the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democratic candidate.
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Iran's efforts continue to be aimed at helping Harris and hurting Trump, they say, pointing to an ongoing hacking and leaking operation against the Trump campaign that was tracked by three operatives working for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
According to U.S. intelligence agencies, China has not yet interfered in the U.S. presidential campaign, focusing instead on convincing American voters to reject state and local candidates who they believe infringe on Beijing's interests, especially those who support Taiwan.
However, on Monday, US intelligence officials warned that Russia and Cuba have joined China in targeting congressional, state, and local elections.
“Moscow is using a wide range of actors to try to influence the congressional elections, in particular to encourage the American public to oppose pro-Ukrainian policies and politicians,” the intelligence official said.
