Foreign interference in US elections is high – and will soon be exposed – Nationally
WASHINGTON — A presidential candidate's phone has been hacked. Fake video shows burned ballots in Pennsylvania. National security officials warn that enemies of the US could spark violent protests after Election Day.
The developments – all revealed last week – show how Russia, China and Iran have stepped up efforts to interfere in US politics ahead of next month's election, as intelligence officials and security analysts had predicted.
At the same time, officials, technology companies and independent researchers have mounted an aggressive defense by quickly exposing foreign election threats, highlighting lessons learned from past election cycles that have revealed America's vulnerability to information loss and cyberespionage.
Officials say the US election system is so secure that no foreign country can tamper with the results to the extent necessary to change the outcome. Nevertheless, unauthorized adversaries have used disinformation and cyberespionage to target campaigns and voters while fueling mistrust and discord.
Here's what you need to know as the presidential election approaches:
Russia is the ultimate threat
Russia is the most active and sophisticated country working to manipulate US elections, using fake websites, state-controlled media and unsuspecting Americans to spread misleading and divisive content aimed at undermining confidence in the election.
The Kremlin's whistle-blowing tools deal with controversial issues such as immigration, crime, the economy or disaster relief. The goal is to weaken the US, end support for Ukraine as it fights Russian invaders and reduce America's ability to counter Russia's growing ties to China, North Korea and Iran, officials said.
Intelligence officials and independent security analysts have determined that Russia is supporting former President Donald Trump, and is using disinformation — sometimes artificially generated by AI — to impeach his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, proposed cuts to Ukraine and repeatedly criticized the NATO military alliance.
In one particularly clever campaign, Russia played a video that falsely accused Harris of maiming a woman in a car accident years ago. Another video made false allegations against Harris's partner, Gov. Minnesota Tim Walz.
On Friday, the FBI confirmed Moscow's role in creating a third video purportedly showing the destruction of mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania. Local election officials quickly dismissed the video as fake.
Russia has also tried to pay American influencers who spread the Kremlin's favorite stories. Last month, US authorities accused two Russian state media employees of funneling $10 million to a Tennessee company to create pro-Russian content. The company then paid several prominent right-wing activists, who said they had no idea their work was supported by Russia.
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Moscow's campaign will not end on Election Day. Instead, intelligence officials and independent security analysts predict that Russia will use claims of election irregularities to suggest that the results cannot be trusted. A recently declassified intelligence memo revealed that Russia may also be encouraging violent protests after the election.
“Putin's goal is to foment chaos, division and racism in our society,” said Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia who now teaches at Stanford University.
Russia has denied claims that it sought to influence the US election. A message left with the Russian ambassador in Washington was not immediately returned Saturday.
Iranian hacking and leaking operations
Iran has been a particularly strong player in foreign interference this year.
It is accused of hacking Trump campaign associates and providing hacked communications to media organizations and Democrats in the hope that damaging stories would emerge that could damage Republican hopes. Dangling emails were sent to people associated with President Joe Biden's campaign, but there was no indication that anyone responded, officials said.
The Justice Department last month indicted three Iranian criminals who are still at large, accusing them of a years-long operation targeting scores of victims.
US officials have described the hack as part of a wider effort to interfere in an election that Iran sees as important. Iran, they say, has made clear its opposition to the Trump campaign. His administration ended the nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, an action that prompted Iran's leaders to vow revenge.
In addition to cyberspace, US officials have repeatedly expressed concern that Iran could carry out violence on US soil against Trump or other members of his administration.
Officials in 2022 opened charges of a foiled Iranian plot to kill Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, and this year charged a Pakistani man with ties to Iran with plotting to assassinate US politicians, including possibly killing Trump.
Leaders in Tehran may also try to encourage violent protests after the election, according to the declassified intelligence memo. Authorities say Iran has also secretly funded and supported US protests against Israel's war in Gaza.
Iranian authorities have dismissed allegations that the country is trying to influence the election. Iran's organization at the United Nations issued a statement this week saying, “Iran has no intentions or intent to interfere in the US election.”
A neutral China?
US intelligence officials believe China is neutral in elections and focuses on down-ballot races, targeting candidates in both parties based on their positions on issues important to Beijing, including support for Taiwan.
But the Chinese government has for years engaged in high-level hacking targeting all aspects of Western life and industry that go beyond electoral influence.
“From the city council to the president, they want access,” said Adam Darrah, a former CIA political analyst who is now vice president of intelligence at the cybersecurity firm ZeroFox, which tracks foreign threats.
On Friday, news broke that Chinese hackers as part of a broader espionage effort had targeted cell phones used by Trump, his running mate JD Vance and people associated with the Harris campaign. It was not immediately clear what data, if any, was accessed.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said that they are not familiar with the details and cannot comment, but argued that China is often the victim of cyberattacks and opposes this project.
Are these strategies new? Not at all.
Foreign adversaries, including those now accused of meddling, have sought to interfere in many past election cycles – with varying degrees of success.
But the US government, which has been accused of staying in the dark about the extent of Russian interference in the 2016 election, has worked this year to call out foreign threats as part of an effort to limit their influence and reassure Americans that the election is safe.
In 2016, Russian military intelligence officials hacked into the email accounts of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman and the Democratic Party and released tens of thousands of communications in an effort to boost Trump's successful presidential campaign.
Russia also participated that year in a massive but covert campaign of trolling social media aimed at sowing discord on hot public issues, creating divisions in the US electoral system and damaging Clinton's bid for the presidency.
Events continued in the 2020 election cycle when a Ukrainian lawyer who was described at the time by US officials as an “active Russian agent” released a recording of Democrat Joe Biden, then a presidential contender.
That same year, Iranian hackers were accused of emails purporting to be from the far-right group Proud Boys, which officials said were designed to damage Trump's election.
