Lawmakers say Russia seeks to undermine Democrats before midterms
Original title: Democrat lawmakers say Russia is aiming to undermine party ahead of midterms
They say a classified assessment finds influence activity by Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, but no vote-system hacking.
Rep. Jim Himes and Sen. Mark Warner said a classified U.S. intelligence assessment shared with Congress found Russia trying to harm the Democratic Party and erode voter confidence before the midterms. Himes said China, Iran, and North Korea are also engaged in targeted influence efforts. Both said the update shows no country is trying to hack election infrastructure or tamper with votes, while describing a broad influence environment, including Ukraine support as a possible wedge. They also said they have sought Election Day availability from intelligence leaders if unsubstantiated claims appear.
Unconfirmed: The account rests on two lawmakers’ description of a classified assessment; they hedged on how explicit Kremlin activity has been.
- Himes described Russian themes as chaos, distrust of institutions, and voting machines.
- Warner said Russia has spread disinformation against Democrats every cycle since 2016.
- Both hedged on how explicit the Kremlin’s actions have been.
- Himes’s panel is due another election-security briefing next week.
- They said they asked DNI Jay Clayton and CIA Director John Ratcliffe to be available on Election Day.
From the original article
3 min read at therecord.mediaThe pair stressed the latest update showed no country is pursuing the technically challenging effort to interfere with or hack into the country’s election infrastructure or tamper directly with votes.
therecord.media
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.