Chamber member Nancy Pelosi warns voters the decision on who the next president is may not be entirely in their hands.
Pelosi said Sunday that Russia is a major threat to electoral security in November and distinguishes the issue of threats posed by China and Iran, which reportedly do not want to see victory for President Trump.
“Russia is active, interfering 24/7 in our elections,” Pelosi told CNN State of the Union. “They did that in 2016, and they do it now.”
She added that China is believed to win presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in November, a threat of electoral interference she called “unequal”.
Pelosi, who also appeared on Fox News Sunday, downplayed concerns that China is trying to get interested in the elections.
“They’re trying to cover it up with the Chinese, they said, rather Biden – we do not know, but that’s what they’re saying, but they’re not really involved in the presidential election,” she said.
U.S. intelligence officials recently released an assessment of the ways in which China, Iran and Russia are posing threats to the security of this year’s elections.
The assessment said Russia was using a “range of measures” to try and denigrate Biden and what the country considered an “anti-Russia establishment.” Officials concluded that actors linked to the Kremlin also encouraged the opportunity for Trump’s re-election through disinformation on social media and Russian television.
Iran, meanwhile, is thought to be seeking to undermine US Democratic institutions, Trump, and divide the country ahead of the election, according to the poll. Iran is expected to pose a threat by spreading disinformation on social media and engaging in anti-American content online. Officials said China has worked to expand its influence in the election because of its preference that Trump does not win re-election.
Pelosi said she believes Russia poses the strongest threat to this year’s presidential election and that more information on what it is doing to undermine security should come out.
“As long as they tell the whole story about Russia, they can hide it any way they want,” she said. “This is our sacred right. This is our election, and in all respects we must ensure that the American people remove obstacles of participation and obstacles in terms of intelligence to ensure that they know what is in place.”
