FBI: Iran sent emails intimidating voters

Iran is responsible for emails meant to intimidate American voters and sow unrest in multiple states, and Tehran and Moscow have also obtained voter registration with the goal of interfering in the election, U.S. officials said Wednesday night.

Registered Democratic voters in Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Alaska reported receiving threatening emails, falsely purporting to be from the far-right group Proud Boys, that warned “we will come after you” if the recipients didn’t vote for President Donald Trump.

John Ratcliffe, the intelligence director, and FBI Director Chris Wray said the U.S. will impose costs on any foreign countries interfering in the 2020 U.S. election. Despite the Iranian and Russian actions, they said Americans can be confident that their vote will be counted.

“These actions are desperate attempts by desperate adversaries,” Ractliffe said.

The emails were made to look as though they come from the Proud Boys, a self-described militia group. The email shows a sender with the address info@officialproudboys.com and warns the recipient to “Vote for Trump or else!”

CBS News and Vice News reported that the source code embedded in seven emails shows the message originated from IP addresses linked to serv-

ers in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Estonia.

The full text of the email reads:

“We are in possession of all your information (email, address, telephone ... everything. You are currently registered as a Democrat and we know this because we have gained access into the entire voting infrastructure. You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you. Change your party affiliation to Republican to let us know you received our message and will comply. We will know which candidate you voted for. I would take this seriously if I were you.”

In Florida, Alachua, Collier, Brevard, Escambia and Citrus counties reported emails to authorities.

Election officials in Alachua County forwarded the emails to the FBI. Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, who lives in Miami-Dade, said he did, too.

“While the investigation is active and currently ongoing, as your sheriff I want to personally assure everyone that the Sheriff’s Office, our federal and local law enforcement partners are doing everything possible to identify those responsible,” Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey said. “Please do not allow this or any other action by anyone to intimidate or dissuade you from your right as an American to cast your ballot for the candidate(s) of your choosing during early voting or on Election Day.”

Tarrio posted about the emails on Parler, the social media site the Proud Boys use. He said he spoke with Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton and would be assisting the FBI to find out “who is spoofing our email and intimidating voters.”

Barton said her office is working with local, state and federal law enforcement officials to look into the emails, including the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She also notified the Florida Department of State’s Division of Elections, she said.

“If any individual engages in any form of voter intimidation, our office will refer the case to state and federal law enforcement,” she wrote in a statement.

Iran and Russia also obtained voter registration information, though such data is considered easily accessible. Despite the Iranian and Russian actions, the officials said Americans can be confident that their vote will be counted.

While state-backed Russian hackers are known to have infiltrated U.S. election infrastructure in 2016, there is no evidence that Iran has ever done so. Cybersecurity experts consider it to be a second-rate actor in online espionage.

The voter-intimidation operation apparently used email addresses obtained from state voter registration lists, which include party affiliation and home addresses and can include email addresses and phone numbers. Those addresses were then used in an apparently widespread targeted spamming operation. The senders claimed they would know which candidate the recipient was voting for in the Nov. 3 election, for which early voting is ongoing.

Federal officials have long warned about the possibility of this type of operation, as such registration lists are not difficult to obtain.

Under Florida law, much of the personal information on voter registration forms — including the information referenced in the email, such as email addresses, physical addresses and telephone numbers — is considered public record.

It is publicly available and does not require “access into the entire voting infrastructure” to find.

Information about who anyone voted for in a U.S. election is not public record and is kept private.

Attempting to threaten or intimidate voters in federal elections is a federal crime punishable by fines and up to one year in prison.