General Exclusive: Biden administration to accuse Russia of sustained effort to influence 2024 election
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CNN —
The Biden administration on Wednesday plans to accuse Russia of a sustained effort to influence the 2024 US presidential election by using Kremlin-run media and other online platforms to target US voters with disinformation, six sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
It’s expected the US will make a series of moves on Wednesday aimed at addressing the Kremlin’s efforts including the White House publicly condemning the actions and the Justice Department announcing law enforcement action targeting the covert Russian campaign, the sources said.
RT, the Russian state media network, is a major focus of the US announcement, the sources said. US officials see the Russian outlet as a key piece of Kremlin propaganda efforts.
The Russian disinformation operation is being laundered through both Americans and non-American voices, four of the sources said.
Taken together, the actions would be the Biden administration’s most significant public response yet to alleged Russian influence operations targeting American voters. After the US accused Iran of trying to hack both the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns last month, Wednesday’s expected actions are a reminder that US officials continue to see Russia as a prominent foreign influence threat to November’s election, the sources said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Attorney General Merrick Garland will host a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force that will be attended by senior law enforcement leaders, including FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Another Russian company US officials are expected to name Wednesday is the Social Design Agency, which the Treasury Department has already sanctioned for allegedly running fake news sites in Europe on behalf of the Russian government, three of the sources said.
Formerly known as Russia Today, RT runs television and online platforms around the world that advance the Kremlin’s agenda. The Justice Department forced RT America to register as a foreign agent in 2017 after US intelligence officials concluded that the media outlet contributed to Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election.
Wednesday’s expected announcements would be the second major effort by the Biden administration to blunt RT’s influence in as many months. In July, the Justice Department accused an RT employee of being involved in a scheme that used a network of about 1,000 social media accounts to pose as US residents to spread disinformation about the Ukraine war and other topics. US officials accuse the Kremlin of financing the scheme; a Kremlin spokesperson denied the allegation.
Asked for comment, an RT spokesperson did not respond to the substance of the allegations, and instead emailed mocking comments including, “2016 called and it wants its clichés back.”
CNN was not immediately able to reach Social Design Agency for comment.
A growing number of foreign operatives have attempted to influence US elections since Russia’s 2016 activity, which included hacking the Democratic National Committee and leaking documents aimed at undercutting Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
In the 2024 election, Iran’s alleged embrace of a similar hack-and-leak playbook that Russia used in 2016 has US officials on heightened alert. In June, a group of Iranian government-linked hackers successfully targeted the Trump campaign, stole internal campaign documents and shared them with news organizations. The hackers breached the email account of longtime Trump ally Roger Stone to target campaign staff, CNN has reported.
But US officials are also keeping a close eye on China, which US officials and private experts say uses a vast set of online accounts to also target US voters. Chinese leader Xi Jinping told US President Joe Biden that China would not interfere in the 2024 US presidential election when the two men met last November, CNN previously reported.
But any foreign or domestic attempts to sow discord during the US election and shape voters’ opinions don’t change the fact that the voting process is very difficult to tamper with and protected by layers of defenses. There is no evidence of successful efforts — foreign or domestic —to swing an American election by changing vote tallies.
An estimated 97% of registered voters in the 2024 US election will cast their ballot in a jurisdiction with a verified paper record — adding to transparency around the vote, Jen Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters this week.
“Election infrastructure has never been more secure,” Easterly said.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
The Biden administration on Wednesday plans to accuse Russia of a sustained effort to influence the 2024 US presidential election by using Kremlin-run media and other online platforms to target US voters with disinformation, six sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
It’s expected the US will make a series of moves on Wednesday aimed at addressing the Kremlin’s efforts including the White House publicly condemning the actions and the Justice Department announcing law enforcement action targeting the covert Russian campaign, the sources said.
RT, the Russian state media network, is a major focus of the US announcement, the sources said. US officials see the Russian outlet as a key piece of Kremlin propaganda efforts.
The Russian disinformation operation is being laundered through both Americans and non-American voices, four of the sources said.
Taken together, the actions would be the Biden administration’s most significant public response yet to alleged Russian influence operations targeting American voters. After the US accused Iran of trying to hack both the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns last month, Wednesday’s expected actions are a reminder that US officials continue to see Russia as a prominent foreign influence threat to November’s election, the sources said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Attorney General Merrick Garland will host a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force that will be attended by senior law enforcement leaders, including FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Another Russian company US officials are expected to name Wednesday is the Social Design Agency, which the Treasury Department has already sanctioned for allegedly running fake news sites in Europe on behalf of the Russian government, three of the sources said.
Formerly known as Russia Today, RT runs television and online platforms around the world that advance the Kremlin’s agenda. The Justice Department forced RT America to register as a foreign agent in 2017 after US intelligence officials concluded that the media outlet contributed to Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election.
Wednesday’s expected announcements would be the second major effort by the Biden administration to blunt RT’s influence in as many months. In July, the Justice Department accused an RT employee of being involved in a scheme that used a network of about 1,000 social media accounts to pose as US residents to spread disinformation about the Ukraine war and other topics. US officials accuse the Kremlin of financing the scheme; a Kremlin spokesperson denied the allegation.
Asked for comment, an RT spokesperson did not respond to the substance of the allegations, and instead emailed mocking comments including, “2016 called and it wants its clichés back.”
CNN was not immediately able to reach Social Design Agency for comment.
A growing number of foreign operatives have attempted to influence US elections since Russia’s 2016 activity, which included hacking the Democratic National Committee and leaking documents aimed at undercutting Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
In the 2024 election, Iran’s alleged embrace of a similar hack-and-leak playbook that Russia used in 2016 has US officials on heightened alert. In June, a group of Iranian government-linked hackers successfully targeted the Trump campaign, stole internal campaign documents and shared them with news organizations. The hackers breached the email account of longtime Trump ally Roger Stone to target campaign staff, CNN has reported.
But US officials are also keeping a close eye on China, which US officials and private experts say uses a vast set of online accounts to also target US voters. Chinese leader Xi Jinping told US President Joe Biden that China would not interfere in the 2024 US presidential election when the two men met last November, CNN previously reported.
But any foreign or domestic attempts to sow discord during the US election and shape voters’ opinions don’t change the fact that the voting process is very difficult to tamper with and protected by layers of defenses. There is no evidence of successful efforts — foreign or domestic —to swing an American election by changing vote tallies.
An estimated 97% of registered voters in the 2024 US election will cast their ballot in a jurisdiction with a verified paper record — adding to transparency around the vote, Jen Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters this week.
“Election infrastructure has never been more secure,” Easterly said.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
Ffs, didn’t read, and that’s not what my point is
FUCK HIM AND THE HYENA
FUCK HIM AND THE HYENA
This election really is a 2016 reboot
I don't need the Russkies help for me to hate our piece of shit government, and dems specifically
the Liberal media, google, democrats have done more to interfere, lie or influence elections then russia or trump could ever do
Instead of a very broad statement such as the Russians are spreading misinformation (I fucking hate that goddamn term). Give us one single example of the information the Russians are spreading regarding our elections. Just one!!!! The fucking cunt Democrats never provide any proof to back up their claims and just speak in very wide generalizations.
Yep. Even got Kamala bringing out the hot sauce again
It's OK when Zuckerberg dropped $500 million to fortify the ladder election!
I was saying on the OG for a while now " everyone is a fed " meaning 98% of media, YouTube ers ect are affiliated in someway with US intelligence. They have been controlling both sides for a long time. Not just the left. I specifically used tim pool as one of my examples.
I know most people then thought I was crazy and most people now probably think the same but I'm telling you these people everyone listens to are fucking feds.
There's something to this story and it ain't got Jack shit to do with russia.
I know most people then thought I was crazy and most people now probably think the same but I'm telling you these people everyone listens to are fucking feds.
There's something to this story and it ain't got Jack shit to do with russia.
These soft handed fucks just need to say "vote for us and we'll start WW3"
It's clearly what they want.
Somewhere Hilldog is already working on her Churchill speeches.
Absolute warmongers, morherfuck the DNC
It's clearly what they want.
Somewhere Hilldog is already working on her Churchill speeches.
Absolute warmongers, morherfuck the DNC
Russia isn't our enemy, they are our competition.
China is our enemy.
This is why all the bought and paid for politicians are pushing for conflict with Russia.
We are #1, Russia is #2.
It benefits China to weaken us both with endless pointless conflict.
China is our enemy.
This is why all the bought and paid for politicians are pushing for conflict with Russia.
We are #1, Russia is #2.
It benefits China to weaken us both with endless pointless conflict.
We influence dozens of elections all across the world. I don't want to hear about Russian election interference again. Shit, some of our biggest companies are guilty of election interference, google, amazon, facebook, twitter before elon took over, just to name a few.