TOPLINE
After the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report on Friday warning of ongoing interference by China, Russia and Iran to suspend elections in 2020, White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said Sunday that China “has expanded its spans of influence,” while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi argued that actions by China and Russia are “not equal.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during her weekly news conference in the US … [+]
KEY FACTS
William Evanina, director of the U.S. National Center for Counterintelligence and Security, said Friday that the Russian government is “using a variety of measures to primarily denigrate” prospective Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
The report by the director of the Directorate of National Intelligence also stated that China “prefers that President Trump – who sees Beijing as unpredictable – not win reelection,” however, U.S. intelligence officials believe that Russia was the bigger threat, and that China had not yet decided to take immediate action, according to the New York Times.
However, O’Brien told CBS ‘Face The Nation on Sunday that Chinese mediation should not be minimized, statement, “China, like Russia and Iran, have been involved in cyberattacks and fishing and that sort of thing with respect to our electoral infrastructure and with respect to websites.”
Pelosi said Sunday morning that the threats posed by China and Russia to US elections are not the same, stressing that “giving some equality” to China and Russia over measures to interfere with the elections “does not really tell the story.”
“The Chinese, they said, prefer Biden – we do not know, but that’s what they say, but they are not really involved in the presidential election,” Pelosi added.
Last month, Pelosi and other leading House Democrats suspected Evanina during a classified security briefing and accused the Trump administration of “withholding” information about election interference and Russia’s motivations.
Crucial quote:
“Russia is actively participating in our election 24/7. They did that in 2016, and they are doing it now,” Pelosi said. “The American people, I believe, need to decide who the president of the United States is. Not Vladimir Putin who is making that decision for us.”
Key background:
On Friday, several top Democrats sent a letter to FBI Director Chris Wray, voting on their growing concern about foreign interference in the upcoming elections. Some Democrats think, according to Politico, that material was mailed to President Trump’s prominent allies as part of a plot for foreign disinformation to harm Biden. Every Sunday. Pelosi reiterated her demands for the intelligence community to release additional information about Russia’s actions. Similarly, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) Called on the Trump administration to declassify the information related to Russian mediation in the 2020 elections. On MSNBC on Sunday, Blumenthal characterized a classified briefing that lawmakers received about the activities of Russia last week as “absolutely cool.” In an op-ed published in the Washington Post on Saturday, Blumenthal declared, “the warning lights are flashing red. America’s elections are under attack,” and suggested that sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) Russian disinformation could “wash” in connection with Joe Biden and his son’s activities in Ukraine. Johnson has denied those allegations.
Large number:
85: That is the number of days until Election Day, November 3rd.
Continue reading:
Russia tries to ‘denigrate’ Biden, says opposition chief but China wants to win him (Forbes)
Pelosi says Russian and Chinese election threats are not the same (Politico)
China targets US election infrastructure with cyberattacks, says O’Brien (Reuters)
.
