Agencies team up vs. Russia

America’s top national-security officials held a rare joint news briefing Thursday to highlight efforts to combat Russian election meddling — with the Department of Homeland Security chief dramatically asserting that “our democracy itself is in the cross hairs.”

“Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, and it has become clear that they are the target of our adversaries who seek to sow discord and undermine our way of life,” Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said from the White House.

Other heavy hitters on hand decrying Russian interference included Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, FBI chief Christopher Wray, National Security Adviser John Bolton and the National Security Agency director, Gen. Paul Nakasone.

Their joint appearance in the White House briefing room along with spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders came a day after President Trump called special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election a “witch hunt” and called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to shut it down.

Neither Wray nor Coats would directly address the president’s characterization of the probe — but they and the others insisted the threat from Russia and other actors both in this year’s midterms and in the 2020 election is legitimate.

“We continue to see a pervasive messaging campaign by Russia to try to weaken and divide the United States. We also know the Russians tried to hack into and steal information from candidates and government officials alike,” Coats declared.

Wray outlined a number of ways that Russia and others were attempting to influence domestic politics and sow discord.

“The threat is multi-disciplinary,” Wray said, “targeting US officials and other US persons through traditional intelligence tradecraft, criminal efforts to suppress voting and provide illegal campaign financing, cyber attacks against voting infrastructure along with computer intrusions.”