Russia, Iran, China Ramping Up Efforts To Influence American election, U.S. Intel Officials Say

American intelligence officials said on Friday that Russia is the pre-eminent and most active threat to influence the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, while Iran and China are also stepping up efforts, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

Speaking to reporters in a briefing call organized by the State Department's Foreign Press Center, an official with the Office of the National Director of Intelligence (ODNI), said Moscow, Tehran and Beijing are all trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their own benefit, and see election periods as moments of vulnerability. 

"These actors most likely judge that amplifying controversial issues and rhetoric that seeks to divide Americans can serve their interests by making the U.S. and its democratic system look weak, and by keeping the U.S. Government distracted with internal issues instead of pushing back on their hostile behavior globally," the official said.

Russia, the U.S. intel community access, is "looking to amplify divisive rhetoric and influence electoral outcomes, which both speak to Moscow’s broader foreign policy goals of weakening the United States and undermining Washington’s support for Ukraine." 

"Russia is the primary actor focusing on amplifying narratives in an effort to diminish Washington’s support for Ukraine," the ODNI official said in response to TURAN's question.

This latest update from the intelligence community comes on the heels of an explosive indictment this week from the U.S.Justice Department that accused two Russian nationals of working with the Kremlin to spread propaganda online and exploit American voters. The allegations were made against two employees of the Russian state-controlled media outlet RT.

"RT has built and used networks of U.S. and other Western personalities to create and disseminate Russia-friendly narratives while trying to mask the content in authentic Americans’ free speech. These actors, among others, are supporting Moscow’s efforts to influence voter preference in favor of the former president and diminish the prospects of the Vice President.  These actors use methods such as targeted online influence operations on social media and websites that portray themselves as legitimate news sites," the official said.

On Iran, the Intel community aTehranssesses that Iran is making a greater effort than in the past to influence this year’s elections, even as its tactics and approaches are similar to prior cycles.  Like Russia, Iran has a multi-pronged approach that looks to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process.

The official went on to elaborate, "Tehran has also sought cyber access to individuals with direct ties to the presidential campaigns of both political parties, while elements have also denigrated the former president.  Iran has a suite of tools at its disposal, as demonstrated in recent reports outlining Iran’s cyber operations, including the hack-and-leak operation against the former president’s campaign.  Iran is also conducting covert social media operations using fake personas, and is using AI to help publish inauthentic news articles"

China, for its part, is focused on influencing down-ballot races, according to intelligence assessment.  "The IC continues to assess that China is not attempting to influence the presidential race. China is also continuing its longstanding efforts to build relationships with U.S. officials and entities at state and local levels because it perceives Washington as largely opposed to China. This view likely informs Beijing’s greater interest in some non-presidential races," an official said. 

The U.S. intel is "aware of PRC attempts" to influence U.S. down-ballot races by focusing on candidates it views as particularly threatening to core PRC security interests, according to the officials.  "China’s influence actors have also continued small-scale efforts in social media to engage U.S. audiences on divisive political issues, including protests about the Israel-Gaza conflict, and promote negative stories about both political parties," they said.

Intelligence officials also added that they are seeing a number of countries beyond these three actors that are considering activities that at minimum test the boundaries of election influence.  Such activities include lobbying political figures to try to curry favor with them in the event that they are elected to office.