Intelligence agencies have determined that while foreign adversaries have sought to widen divisions in the United States, they have not so far attempted to disrupt the government's efforts to conduct the 2024 election.
“Our assessment is that it would be extremely difficult for a foreign power to manipulate our election process on a scale sufficient to affect the outcome of a federal election without being detected,” an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) told reporters on Friday.
The call was the first made by the Justice Department since Iran's successful hack of Trump campaign emails and also came after the department announced a series of actions and indictments targeting Russian efforts to influence the election.
Iran has taken bolder steps in this election, stepping up its efforts.
“Iran has made greater efforts than ever to influence this year's election, although its tactics and approach are similar to previous elections,” ODNI said. As stated in the report Evaluate election security 60 days before the election.
“Tehran has also sought cyber access to individuals directly connected to the presidential campaigns of both political parties, while also targeting detractors of the former president. … In addition to hacking and leak attempts, Iran has engaged in covert social media activity using false identities and used AI to publish fake news articles.”
But Russia remains the biggest threat when it comes to efforts to influence elections, targeting a range of elections beyond just the presidential one.
“The scope and scale of their activities is enormous,” the official said on the call. “Russia is influencing races in both houses of Congress and promoting divisive issues.”
They also described them as “fairly hardy and quite used to this type of activity.”
Officials also warned that the public should not take at face value claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would endorse Harris for president.
” [intelligence community] “We do not believe that President Putin's public statements represent Russia's hidden intentions. There are numerous examples over the past few years where President Putin's statements are inconsistent with Russian actions, including President Putin's statements that he would not invade Ukraine,” the ODNI official said.
Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok earlier this week, Putin voiced his support for Harris and President Biden.
“If we can call someone our ‘favourite’, it is our current president, Mr. [Joe] “Mr Biden, but he dropped out of the race and encouraged all his supporters to support Ms Harris. And we will. We support her,” Putin said. “She laughs expressively and contagiously, so that means she's doing well.”
Officials pointed to recent actions by the Justice Department to seize 32 websites that Russia had been using to stomp down divisions and push Russian views.
a Bilingual internal planning documents A report released by the Department of Justice titled “Project Good Old USA” emphasizes the need to secure Republican candidates, especially former President Trump.
The court also charged two Russians working for RT (formerly Russia Today) with partnering with U.S. media companies to hire influencers to spread other approved narratives.
