| Russia and Iran attempts to shape US election outcome 'should surprise nobody' |
| The latest revelations about Russia and Iran obtaining American voters' registration records throws a bombshell twist into the presidential campaign less than two weeks before the election. The announcement by the US Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, and FBI director Christopher Wray made clear that foreign powers were using the data to send threatening emails to voters and to undermine confidence in the election. The fact that these two powers are trying to shape the outcome of the US presidential election should surprise nobody. In fact, back in July US intelligence agencies publicly warned that Russia, Iran and China were all seeking to meddle in the presidential race. US intelligence agencies offered a second, detailed briefing in August with a wealth of detail on who the foreign actors were targeting and how they were for doing so. During the briefing William Evanina, director of the US National Counterintelligence and Security Centre, said the US believed that China hoped that Donald Trump would lose, because Beijing saw the president as "unpredictable". Mr Evanina said that China had grown increasingly critical of the Trump administration because of its hostile actions against Beijing - from blaming China for the coronavirus pandemic to criticising the country's authoritarian crackdown in Hong Kong and pushing allies not to use its 5G technology. On Iran, the counterintelligence director said that the country was working against Mr Trump's re-election because of his hardline "pressure" campaign against Tehran. “We assess that Iran seeks to undermine US democratic institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country in advance of the 2020 elections," he said. “Iran's efforts along these lines probably will focus on online influence, such as spreading disinformation on social media and recirculating anti-US content." By contrast US intelligence assessed that Russia was working to denigrate Mr Trump's Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, because of his policies on Ukraine during the Obama administration. Mr Evanina said the measures were consistent with Moscow's public criticism of Mr Biden while in office, when he supported Ukraine's autonomy from Russia. “Some Kremlin-linked actors are also seeking to boost President Trump's candidacy on social media and Russian television,” Mr Evanina said. But such tactics were going on well before 2020. In America's 2018 midterm elections, the US Justice Department actually brought a criminal case over alleged Russian interference. The charges were against Elena Khusyaynova, a 44-year-old Russian-based accountant who was accused of taking part in a $10 million scheme on targeted social media ads and web postings intended “to sow division and discord in the US political system”. The complaint alleges the effort targeting the 2018 election was part of a broader campaign dubbed Project Lakhta, with the Russian Internet Research Agency at the centre of the endeavours. During the 2018 races, “Russia, and other foreign countries, including China and Iran, conducted influence activities and messaging campaigns... to promote their strategic interests”, said Dan Coats, who was Director of National Intelligence at the time. Mr Coats offered little detail, but said officials found that Russia continued to use social media, fake personas and Russian state media outlets in the hope of polarising US voters. And of course there was Russia's infamous 2016 election meddling campaign. Russia's Internet Research Agency set up thousands of social media accounts designed to smear Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate. In addition, Kremlin-backed figures hacked the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign officials and publicly released damaging emails at strategic points during the election campaign. Moscow's pervasive meddling attempts were thoroughly examined during a two-year federal investigation, which led to charges against 26 Russians and three Russian organisations. Robert Mueller, the special counsel who led the probe, later said the findings on Russian interference "deserves the attention of every American". That warning was repeated during Wednesday night's briefing, with FBI director Mr Wray urging voters: "Be thoughtful, careful and discerning consumers of information online." |
| FBI revelation conjures nightmare scenarios for how Iran and Russia could cause chaos this election |
| Iran and Russia are ready to pour fuel on the fire. That seems the unavoidable takeaway from the shock news that both powers have obtained US voter registration details. The claim was made by two of the top figures in US intelligence in an unscheduled press conference at 7.30pm on Wednesday. The media was alerted just moments beforehand. The briefing by John Ratcliffe, the US Director of National Intelligence, and Christopher Wray, the FBI director, lasted less than eight minutes. No questions were taken. And yet the statement prompted so many, leaving viewers with both a deep sense of unease at what was happening and a lack of clarity about the scale of the problem. Taken at face value, the statement makes a few things clear. First, that both Iran and Russia had been able to get their hands on information about registered voters. |
| UK-EU Brexit talks restart with just weeks to seal deal |
| Britain and the European Union will resume fraught post-Brexit trade talks on Thursday after seven days lost to threats and brinkmanship, and with just weeks left to salvage an agreement. |
| Trump appointee claims Trump is the real victim of bizarre emails targeting Democrats |
| The Director of National Intelligence wants you to know who the real victim is here. In a hastily convened press conference Wednesday night, John Ratcliffe, the Trump appointed DNI, assured a worried American public that Donald Trump was the target of a voting intimidation campaign. The effort, allegedly run by Iran, threatened likely Joe Biden supporters. |
| Trump intel chief sounds alarm over Iran intimidating voters with spoofed emails |
| DNI Director John Ratcliffe announced in a surprise press conference that the U.S. government has concluded “that two foreign actors, Iran and Russia, have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections.” |
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