Current:Home > Contact-usUS warns of a Russian effort to sow doubt over the election outcomes in democracies around the globe-InfoLens
US warns of a Russian effort to sow doubt over the election outcomes in democracies around the globe
View Date:2024-12-23 11:40:41
The U.S. is warning nearly 100 countries that Russian intelligence is opening a new front in its efforts to destabilize democracies by amplifying doubts about the legitimacy of vote-counting and elections, senior government officials said Friday.
Russia has long advocated overtly and covertly for candidates it backs to win elections in other countries, but intelligence officials say they have recently identified a new tactic — sowing doubts about the reliability of democracy itself.
“Russia is pursuing operations to degrade public confidence in the integrity of elections themselves,” the U.S. stated in a cable sent this week to embassies in more than 90 countries to be passed onto those governments. The document was obtained by The Associated Press.
A message left with the Russian embassy in Washington was not immediately returned.
Russia appears encouraged by its success in amplifying the lies by former President Donald Trump and his supporters during and after the 2020 presidential election falsely blaming widespread fraud for his loss. Those lies helped spark the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and continue to resonate to this day, contributing to the paralysis in the House of Representatives, where the Republican majority had been considering placing one of the lie’s loudest congressional proponents, Rep. Jim Jordan, in charge.
“It is our view that Russia is capitalizing on what it sees as a relatively inexpensive success in the United States in 2020 to take this global,” a senior intelligence official said on a call with reporters on Friday.
Officials on the call spoke on condition that their names not be disclosed so they could discuss U.S. intelligence.
The warning comes before next year’s presidential elections in the U.S., where Trump is the heavy favorite to win his party’s nomination, and elections in other democracies, including for the European Union parliament in June of 2024.
In its warning to other nations, the U.S. said a review of elections between 2020 and 2022 found 11 separate contests in nine countries where Russia “engaged in a concerted effort” to undermine confidence in election outcomes. It found examples in 17 additional democracies of a “less-pronounced” campaign to amplify domestic questions about the reliability of elections.
During a European country’s 2020 election, the cable states, Russia’s intelligence agency “attempted through proxies to deploy agitators to intimidate campaign workers, organize protests on Election Day, and sabotage overseas voting.”
In one South American country’s election, the document states, “Russian Telegram channels included false coverage of alleged fraud, and Russian trolls across a range of social media websites sought to amplify concerns about post-election instability.”
Officials declined to further identify the targeted countries, saying the U.S. has warned them of the attempts and wants to respect their privacy. They recommended several steps to counter the influence operations, including fact-based messaging about election security, public disclosure of efforts to undermine democracy and possible sanctions or removal of bad actors.
The U.S. has long targeted Russia as an agitator in U.S. elections, saying it was behind an influence campaign aimed at elevating Trump in the 2016 presidential election and accessing voter registration data in Illinois the same year.
veryGood! (5525)
Related
- Biden funded new factories and infrastructure projects, but Trump might get to cut the ribbons
- Dolphin that shared a tank with Lolita the orca at Miami Seaquarium moves to SeaWorld San Antonio
- 'Murder in Apt. 12': About Dateline's new podcast unpacking the killing of Arkansas beauty queen
- Three things to know about the Hollywood Writers' tentative agreement
- Pie, meet donuts: Krispy Kreme releases Thanksgiving pie flavor ahead of holidays
- Russians committing rape, 'widespread' torture against Ukrainians, UN report finds
- An overdose drug is finally over-the-counter. Is that enough to stop the death toll?
- Bermuda premier says ‘sophisticated and deliberate’ cyberattack hobbles government services
- NBA today: Injuries pile up, Mavericks are on a skid, Nuggets return to form
- Interest rates will stay high ‘as long as necessary,’ the European Central Bank’s leader says
Ranking
- 'Joker 2' actor pans DC sequel as the 'worst film' ever: 'It has no plot'
- Sly Stallone's 'Expendables 4' belly flops with $8.3M, while 'Nun 2' threepeats at No. 1
- Firefighter’s 3-year-old son struck and killed as memorial walk for slain firefighters was to begin
- Thailand receives the first Chinese visitors under a new visa-free policy to boost tourism
- Martin Scorsese on the saints, faith in filmmaking and what his next movie might be
- Ocasio-Cortez says New Jersey's Menendez should resign after indictment
- Below Deck Med Is Rocked By a Shocking, Unexpected Departure on Season 8 Premiere
- Japan’s Kishida unveils the gist of a new economic package as support for his government dwindles
Recommendation
-
Angels sign Travis d'Arnaud: Former All-Star catcher gets multiyear contract in LA
-
Kathy Hilton Shares Paris Hilton's Son Phoenix's Latest Impressive Milestone
-
Supreme Court's interpretation of the word and could affect thousands of prison sentences each year
-
Transcript: Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska on Face the Nation, Sept. 24, 2023
-
Lady Gaga Joins Wednesday Season 2 With Jenna Ortega, So Prepare to Have a Monster Ball
-
In new effort to reset flu shot expectations, CDC to avoid messages that could be seen as a scare tactic
-
Authors' lawsuit against OpenAI could 'fundamentally reshape' AI: Experts
-
Trump argues First Amendment protects him from ‘insurrection’ cases aimed at keeping him off ballot