WASHINGTON – The Trump administration’s electoral security czar issued a rare statement describing foreign efforts to interfere in the 2020 election on Friday. Democrats called it misleading, saying it did not convey the extent of Russia’s interference and how its message matches that of President Donald Trump.
With just over 100 days until the November election, the statement came from Bill Evanina, a career FBI agent who serves as the top counterintelligence officer in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Evanina was tasked with coordinating what to say to Congress and the public about foreign political interference.
American adversaries “seek to compromise the private communications of America’s political campaigns, candidates, and other political objectives,” Evanina said in the Friday statement, and “they also seek to compromise our electoral infrastructure, and we continue to monitor malicious cyber actors trying to gain access to the state and federal networks of the United States, including those responsible for managing the elections. “
Furthermore, foreign nations continue to use influencing measures in traditional and social media in an effort to influence the preferences and perspectives of American voters, change American policies, increase discord and undermine confidence in our democratic process. Evanina said. “The coronavirus pandemic and recent protests, for example, continue to serve as fodder for foreign influence and disinformation efforts in the United States.”
Russia, China and Iran are the adversaries of greatest concern, Evanina said, but did not say which of them are hacking electoral campaigns and systems, and did not specifically describe any of the influence campaigns each nation is believed to be carrying out. .
Russia, Evanina said, is seeking “to weaken the United States and diminish our global role. Using a variety of efforts, including Internet trolls and other representatives, Russia continues to spread disinformation in the United States that is designed to undermine confidence in Our democracy processes and denigrates what it sees as an anti-Russia “establishment” in the United States.
Evanina did not mention what US intelligence analysts have concluded on whether Russia is trying to help President Trump, as intelligence agencies evaluated what happened in 2016. The official who coordinates the intelligence community’s efforts on electoral interference Shelby Pierson told Congress months ago. there was evidence that Russia again attempted to push Trump.
Shortly after Evanina’s statement was released, Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, criticized him in an appearance on Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC. A Senate aide told NBC News that Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee share Schiff’s concerns.
“I have been urging Bill Evanina and other members of the intelligence community to contact the American people about what is happening, to participate in the conversation, to be armed with good information about what they are doing. our foreign adversaries, “said Schiff. . “And I have serious concerns about the statement just released: serious concerns about how it gives a false sense of equivalence between what Russia is doing, what China is doing, what Iran is doing.”
Schiff did not explicitly say what he thinks the statement on Russia left, but said: “I think our adversaries, particularly the Russians, are going to amplify the false messages that the President is saying: ‘Well, you cannot trust the ballots in absence, “even though this is how the president votes.”
He added: “The Russians will seek whatever division they can to wreak havoc in the United States. And, but what better way than to amplify false information about how millions of Americans cast their votes?
Schiff later signed a joint statement with Democratic Speaker of the California House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, and Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner of Virginia.
The Democrats’ statement said Evanina “did not go far enough to arm the American people with the knowledge they need about how foreign powers are trying to influence our political process,” and argued that her statement “gives false sense. of equivalence to the actions of foreign adversaries by listing three countries of unequal intention, motivation and ability together. “
Democratic leaders added that Evanina’s statement also “does not fully define the objective, nature, scope, and ability to influence our elections, the information the American people must have as we move forward in November. Simply saying, for example, that Russia seeks to ‘denigrate what it sees as an’ anti-Russia ‘establishment in the United States’ is so generic that it almost makes no sense. The statement omits much on an issue of immense importance. “
When asked to respond, an ODNI official told NBC News: “To be clear, we are explaining here that there are serious threats to our elections by multiple nations, not just one. There is no particular order or weight for which actors in the threat are listed in the declaration. As the declaration indicates, at this time, we are primarily concerned with China, Russia and Iran, although other nation states and non-state actors could also harm our electoral process. Trials will evolve as the election season progresses. “
The official added: “We see this as the beginning of a conversation with the American public, not the end of everything.”
More information will be sent, the official said.
“We encourage Americans to consume the information with a critical eye, check sources before republishing or disseminating messages, practice good cyber hygiene and media literacy, and report suspicious election-related activities to the authorities.”
