Russia ‘still targeting US politics’
UNITED STATES: America’s top intelligence chiefs were united yesterday in declaring that Russia is continuing efforts to disrupt the US political system and is targeting the 2018 midterm elections, following its successful operation to sow discord in the most recent presidential campaign.
Their assessment stands in contrast to US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly voiced skepticism of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats, Democrats demanded to know what the intelligence community was doing to counter Russia’s actions and whether Trump had given explicit directions to them to do so.
The disconnect between Trump and his most senior intelligence advisers has raised concerns that the US government will not be able to mount an effective plan to beat back Russian influence operations in the upcoming midterms.
Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats said there was ‘‘no single agency in charge’’ of blocking Russian meddling, an admission that drew the ire of Democrats.
‘‘The fact that we don’t have clarity about who’s in charge means, I believe, we don’t have a full plan,’’ said Mark Warner, of Virginia, the vice-chairman of the committee, which is conducting an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Coats said that Russia would continue using propaganda, false personas and social media to undermine the upcoming election.
‘‘There should be no doubt that Russia perceives its past efforts’’ to disrupt the 2016 presidential campaign ‘‘as successful and views the 2018 midterm elections as a potential target for Russian influence operations,’’ said Coats, the leader of the US government’s 17 intelligence agencies.
His assessment was echoed by all five other intelligence agency heads present at the hearing, including CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who two weeks ago stated publicly that he had ‘‘every expectation’’ that Russia would try to influence the coming election.
The intelligence community’s consensus on Russia’s intentions led Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed to press the officials on whether Trump had directed them to take ‘‘specific actions to confront and to blunt’’ Russian interference activities.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the bureau was undertaking ‘‘a lot of specific activities’’ to counter Russian meddling but was ‘‘not specifically directed by the president’’.
Pompeo also responded to reports last week about an intelligence operation to retrieve classified National Security Agency information believed to have been stolen by Russia. The New York Times reported that US spies had been bilked out of US$100,000, paid to a shadowy Russian who claimed to be able to deliver the secrets as well as compromising information about Trump.
Pompeo categorically denied that the intelligence agency had paid any such money, and claimed that the newspaper had been duped by the same person trying to sell the information that turned out to be bogus.