Russia supports Donald Trump, China supports Joe Biden and Iran seeks to sow chaos in the US presidential election, a top intelligence official has warned in a sober assessment of foreign mediation.
The statement on Friday from William Evanina, director of the National Center for Counterintelligence and Security, raises fears of a repeat of the 2016 election, when Russia manipulated social media to help Trump and his opponent Hillary Clinton.
“Russia is using a variety of measures to denigrate former Vice President Biden in the first place and what it sees as an anti-Russian ‘establishment,'” Evanina said. “This is in line with Moscow’s public criticism of him when he was vice-president for his role in the Obama administration’s policy on Ukraine and its support for the anti – Putin opposition in Russia.”
Evanina identified Andriy Derkach, a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician, as ‘spreading allegations of corruption – including through publicly-targeted phone calls’ to attack Biden’s campaign. The Washington Post reported that Derkach has met several times with Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who has shrugged off conspiracy theories about the former vice president.
Evanina also warned that some “Kremlin-linked actors” were spreading false allegations of corruption to undermine Biden, while others sought to “encourage President Trump’s candidacy through social media and Russian television.”
Evanina, the top election oversight official, is a Trump nominee. His statement calls China for Russia, but presents less specific evidence of direct interference by Beijing.
“We believe that China prefers President Trump – who sees Beijing as unpredictable – not to win re-election,” Evanina said. “China has expanded its November 2020 influence efforts to shape the policy environment in the United States, to put pressure on political figures it sees as opposed to China’s interests, and to criticize and oppose criticism of China.”
He added: “Beijing recognizes that all these efforts could affect the presidential race.”
Evanina highlighted China’s criticism of Trump’s treatment of the coronavirus pandemic, the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston and the White House’s responses to Chinese actions in Hong Kong and the South China Sea. On Friday, the US imposed sanctions on Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam and 10 other senior officials. Trump has also ordered crackdowns on the Chinese owners of the popular apps TikTok and WeChat.
Iran, meanwhile, sought to undermine U.S. democratic institutions and Trump, and divide the country before the 2020 elections, Evanina said in a statement.
“Iran’s efforts along these lines are likely to focus on online influence, such as spreading disinformation on social media and recycling anti-American content. Tehran’s motivation to carry out such activities is driven, in part, by a perception that President Trump’s re – election would result in a continuation of US pressure on Iran in an effort to combat regime change. “
Trump pulled the US out of a nuclear deal Barack Obama agreed to and imposed several sanctions on Tehran.
The anti-Trump pressure group National Security Action denied that China’s public actions rose to the level of Russian secret election interference. “Grif is trying to minimize the statement of what Russia is doing – and again attacking our democracy in an attempt to secure Trump’s re-election – by comparing it to China’s public criticism of the administration’s recent sanctions against Beijing,” a spokesman said. , Ned Price. “Any interference in our democracy is unacceptable, but there is no equality between the two efforts.”
At a press conference at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Friday night, Trump responded to the assessment by insisting: ‘I think the last person Russia wants to see in office is Donald Trump, because no one smarter is about Russia than I have, ever.
“China would be happy to have an election where Donald Trump lost to ‘Sleepy’ Joe Biden. They would own our land. If Joe Biden were president, China would own our country … Iran would prefer me not to be president. ”
The president added: “I will make this statement. If and when we win, we will make very quick agreements with Iran. We will make very quick deals with North Korea. What happened to the war in North Korea? You have not seen that, have you? ‘
A hacking and social media campaign by Russia in 2016 is credited by American intelligence with the help of Trump to victory. It triggered the investigation of Robert Mueller, the special adviser, who described Russian mediation but did not conclude that there had been direct collusion by Trump as his campaign.
The November election is already under siege by the coronavirus pandemic, concerns about whether the system could manage a rise in mail-in-vote and constant attacks by Trump on the integrity of the process.
Evanina warned that foreign opponents could try to interfere with electoral systems by trying to sabotage the voting process, steal election data or question the validity of results: ‘Foreign efforts to influence or interfere are a direct threat to our substance democracy. ”
The report raised concerns about Capitol Hill. Marco Rubio and Mark Warner, the top Republican and Democrat in the Senate Senate committee, said they “encourage political leaders on all sides to refrain from arming intelligence issues for political gain.”
Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate Majority Leader, said: “It is not surprising that our opponents have a preference in our elections. Foreign nations have sought to influence our policies throughout American history. As Director Evanina’s statement makes clear, efforts by Russian malignant influences remain a major threat. But it would be a serious mistake to ignore the growing threats posed by China and Iran. ”
.
