Intelligence officials said they have given three times as many defense briefings to potential targets of foreign influence operations this year as in past election cycles.
The details come as officials warn that China, Russia and Cuba are making a concerted effort to target U.S. congressional elections using tactics similar to those seen to influence presidential elections. It became clear during the process.
Intelligence agencies conduct defensive briefings when they determine a foreign country has attempted to interfere with a campaign or candidate, such as when Iran hacked the Trump campaign in the summer.
Officials did not say to whom the briefings were provided, but the surge signals a growing effort to shape U.S. elections.
“Moscow is leveraging a wide range of influence actors to influence parliamentary elections, particularly to encourage Americans to oppose pro-Ukrainian policies and politicians. , plans to create and distribute content, especially on social media, with the aim of encouraging the election of parliamentary candidates that the Russian government determines to be opposed to aid to Ukraine. ,” an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told reporters on Monday.
China is similarly trying to influence elections based on candidates' positions in Taiwan, which it considers to be one of its territories.
Intelligence officials say Cuba is “almost certainly considering influence operations targeting some candidates” in which the country attempts to “curry favor” with various politicians. He added that it was highly likely.
“Havana has placed great emphasis on several policy issues that it believes are negatively impacting the regime, including the U.S. embargo on Cuba and other economic and travel restrictions; Havana recognizes all of this as an effort to force regime change. The City of Havana considers election influence activities to be part of a permanent requirement to influence these policies. It has become the main target of its activities,” the official said.
“To that end, we have observed Cuba adjusting its influence efforts based on its perceptions of the 2020 candidates and its policy stance toward Cuba. For example, Havana has denigrated certain candidates in Florida. “They intended to impose an influential discourse on Latin American communities.”
