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US federal authorities confirmed that threatening emails directed at voters were sent through servers located outside the United States, prompting questions about their source, amidst voter intimidation fears. just two weeks before Election Day.
The announcement by US Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on Wednesday that Iran was involved in the issue of “fake” emails intended to influence the US elections, sparked a debate in the United States about the purpose of the operation.
At a press conference, Ratcliffe said the goal behind the messages was “to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and harm President Trump.”
But Democratic leaders have questioned why Ratcliffe described the intervention as an attack on the president’s re-election campaign, rather than an attempt to create confusion and mistrust throughout the 2020 election.
They believe the threatening emails targeted registered Democratic voters in the swing states and directed them to vote for Trump or “be harassed.”
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer, who received a secret intelligence report on the attack by email, told MSNBC on Wednesday that he was “surprised” that Ratcliffe indicated that the couriers were trying to undermine the Trump campaign. He added that what he understood was that the emails were aimed at “undermining the source of our democracy: elections.”
For his part, California Democratic Rep. Ted Liu was among officials who interacted with Ratcliffe’s remarks, tweeting that the emails were intended to intimidate Democratic voters into voting for President Donald Trump. , and this hurts Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
The US Director of National Intelligence had made it clear that US security services had concluded that “the information related to the electoral lists was obtained by Iran and, separately, Russia.”
“This data can be used by foreign parties to try to provide false information to registered voters, in hopes of sowing chaos and confusion and undermining confidence in American democracy,” he added.
The announcement comes after Democratic voters said they had received threatening emails addressed to them personally and sent on behalf of the far-right group Broad Boys, ordering them to vote for Trump in elections scheduled for November 3.
It’s unclear how senders linked the email addresses to the recipient’s voter registration status, but under Florida law, much of the personal information on voter registration forms, including dates of birth, Party affiliation and email addresses are considered public records.
FBI Director Christopher Wray, who supported Ratcliffe during the press conference, tried to reassure the public and emphasized that the US electoral system would remain safe and “solid.”
