U.S. investigating potential covert Russian plan to disrupt November elections
Source: The Washington Post
By Dana Priest, Ellen Nakashima and Tom Hamburger September 5 at 2:38 PM
U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies are probing what they see as a broad covert Russian operation in the United States to sow public distrust in the upcoming presidential election and in U.S. political institutions, intelligence and congressional officials said.
The aim is to understand the scope and intent of the Russian campaign, which incorporates cyber-tools to hack systems used in the political process, enhancing Russias ability to spread disinformation.
The effort to better understand Russias covert influence operations is being coordinated by James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence. This is something of concern for the DNI, said Charles Allen, a former longtime CIA officer who has been briefed on some of these issues. It is being addressed.
A Russian influence operation in the United States is something were looking very closely at, said one senior intelligence official who, as others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. Officials are also examining potential disruptions to the election process, and the FBI has alerted state and local officials to potential cyberthreats.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/intelligence-community-investigating-covert-russian-influence-operations-in-the-united-states/2016/09/04/aec27fa0-7156-11e6-8533-6b0b0ded0253_story.html?wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1
olddad56
(5,732 posts)them.
ArtD48
(150 posts)Like maybe getting one of their stooges to say if he loses Pennsylvania the election was rigged?
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,033 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,376 posts)although the previous poster didn't completely fill out the LBN info for their post.
TomCADem
(17,390 posts)The WaPo story notes that the intelligence community is not saying it has definitive proof of such tampering, or any Russian plans to do so. But even the hint of something impacting the security of our election system would be of significant concern, the official said. Its the key to our democracy, that people have confidence in the election system. Yet, Trump has been doing his best to undermine confidence in our election system:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/01/politics/donald-trump-election-2016-rigged/
onald Trump on Monday took his complaints about the "rigged" political system one step further.
"I'm afraid the election's going to be rigged. I have to be honest," Trump told voters in Ohio, a crucial swing state. Trump's comments Monday came as he decried Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for endorsing Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, even as some Sanders supporters have continued to resist unifying behind the nominee. Trump has sought to siphon off Sanders supporters and draw them to his campaign.
Trump added that he has heard "more and more" that the November election will be rigged -- suggesting to his supporters that the outcome of the election is out of the hands of voters.
Hillary Clinton's spokesman Brian Fallon mocked Trump on Twitter Tuesday morning, writing, "Even for a reflexive conspiracy theorist like Trump, this is pathetic. It's dangerous, too."