White House calls for ‘vast’ effort to protect elections

WASHINGTON — Responding to wideranging criticism that it lacked a clear strategy to protect U.S. elections, the Trump administration put on a show of force on Thursday and said the president had directed a “vast, government-wide effort” to safeguard American democracy.

John Bolton, the national security adviser, also wrote in a letter to Senate Democrats that “President Trump has not and will not tolerate interference in America’s system of representative government.”

The warning to American adversaries came as top U.S. intelligence and homeland security officials raised alarms about potential efforts to influence the 2018 and 2020 elections. Homeland security chief Kirstjen Nielsen said: “Our democracy is in the crosshairs.”

“We continue to see a pervasive messaging campaign by Russia to try to weaken and divide the United States,” director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said.

Their rare appearance during a White House briefing came weeks after Trump publicly undermined the conclusions of American intelligence agencies regarding Russian interference. After suffering a bipartisan outcry, Trump later said he accepted those findings.

Along with National Security Agency director Paul Nakasone and FBI director Christopher Wray, they appeared together at the White House on Thursday to try to reassure the American people they are doing everything in their power to address the threat.

Nakasone, who is also the commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, said the command and the NSA are both tracking a wide range of foreign cyber adversaries and “are prepared to conduct operations against those actors.”

At one of his confirmation hearings in March, Nakasone said his role was to provide a series of cyber options that might be used as a deterrent to Russian meddling, but he told Congress then that cyber or military options might not be the most effective. “In fact, it may be less effective than other options,” he said.

Asked specifically if he had been ordered or authorized to conduct any offensive cyber operations in response to foreign meddling in the U.S., Nakasone offered a vague response. “So my guidance … is very clear, we’re not going to accept meddling in the elections. And it’s very unambiguous.”