Russia targeting midterm elections, U.S. officials say
WASHINGTON • Three of the nation’s top intelligence officials said Tuesday that the U.S. has seen Russian activity aimed at meddling in the upcoming midterm elections.
“We have seen Russian activity and intentions to have an impact on the next election cycle,” CIA Director Mike Pompeo told the Senate intelligence committee.
National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and Adm. Mike Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency, agreed. They didn’t describe the activity, other than to say it was related to information warfare.
They told Congress they would provide more details in a classified session later in the day. The intelligence officials said the information will be shared with state and local governments and state election officials.
Russian interference in the upcoming elections is part of its pursuit of bolder cyber operations and false information campaigns against America and its allies, according to a new intelligence report on global threats.
This year’s threat assessment also described the risk of conflict, especially with North Korea, as higher today than at any time since the end of the Cold War. So, too, is a rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia that is destabilizing the Middle East. The danger posed by weapons of mass destruction also is rising.
“In the next year, Russian intelligence and security services will continue to probe U.S. and allied critical infrastructures, as well as target the United States, NATO, and allies for insights into U.S. policy,” the report said. “The 2018 U.S. midterm elections are a potential target for Russian influence operations.”
“Russians stepped up their game with cyber, in particular, in 2016,” Coats told The Associated Press.
His expectation is Russian interference in the midterm or in state elections.
“We think it’s very likely because we don’t see a let-up in efforts to do this,” Coats said.
U.S. intelligence concluded Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election, which has led to the current FBI investigation into possible Trump campaign connections. Russia denies the allegations and President Donald Trump has called the FBI probe as a witch hunt.
Tuesday’s report predicted Russian intelligence agencies will disseminate more false information over Russian state-controlled media and through fake online personas to spread anti-American views and exacerbate social and political divides in the United States.
Pompeo also has said he expects Russia will insert itself in the November midterms, in which Republicans and Democrats will vie for control of the House and Senate. “We will push back in a way that is sufficiently robust that the impact they have on our election won’t be great,” he told the BBC.
Coats and other top intelligence officials were appearing at a Senate intelligence committee hearing Tuesday to discuss their annual assessment of global threats facing the United States.