- Donald Trump sought to allay the concerns of the U.S. intelligence community that Russia is working to win over Joe Biden from winning the 2020 election.
- William Evanina, the director of National Intelligence, said on Friday that Russia was using “a range of measures” to denigrate Biden and his “anti-Russia establishment”.
- In response, Trump told reporters that the ‘weather’ could be true, but then tried to pour cold water on it, saying no one wants him out of the White House more than Russia.
- “Foreign states will continue to use covert and open influence in their attempts to move the preferences and perspectives of American voters,” Evanina said.
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Donald Trump sought to sideline a report by the U.S. intelligence community that said Russia was actively working to “denigrate” Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
In a statement on Friday, William Evanina, the director of National Intelligence, said that “foreign states will continue to use covert and public influence measures in their efforts to move the preferences and perspectives of American voters.”
Russia is using “a variety of measures to denigrate former Vice President Biden in the first place and what it sees as an anti-Russia establishment,” Evanina said.
“This is consistent 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.”
The report is one of the most detailed given by US authorities on the threat of burglary in the 2020 elections so far.
Asked on Friday by a reporter if he thought the intelligence was true, and what he would do about it, Trump said, “It could, it could be.”
—The Hill (@thehill) August 8, 2020
But Trump then threw cold water on the nominee, saying, “I think the last person Russia wants to see in office is Donald Trump, because no one is smarter about Russia than I have, ever.”
When a reporter pointed out that this was not the view of the intelligence community, Trump said, “I do not care what anyone says.”
In his report, Evanina also said that evidence suggests that China and Iran do not want Trump to win re-election. He did not say if they were actively trying to influence the elections like Russia.
House Democrats are worried about a repeat of 2016 when Russia actively mediated in the election to get Trump elected.
“We know that Russia is running again in our elections. The intelligence community has told us that they are continuing the behavior of what they did in the last elections, and there may be other foreign governments trying to intervene. “Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on July 31.
Asked by a reporter what he intended to do to the intelligence, Trump said, “We will look into it.”
“We’ll see them all,” he said.
