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Biden administration accuses Russia of ongoing attempts to influence 2024 elections
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Biden administration accuses Russia of ongoing attempts to influence 2024 elections



CNN

The Biden administration plans to accuse Russia on Wednesday of attempting to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election by using Kremlin-controlled media and other online platforms to target U.S. voters with false information, six sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

According to the sources, the US is expected to take a series of actions on Wednesday to respond to the Kremlin’s efforts, including a public condemnation of the actions by the White House and the announcement of police measures by the Justice Department against the covert Russian campaign.

According to the sources, RT, the Russian state media network, is at the center of the U.S. announcement. U.S. officials view the Russian media as a central element of the Kremlin’s propaganda efforts.

The Russian disinformation campaign is being controlled by both Americans and non-Americans, four of the sources said.

Taken together, these measures would be the Biden administration’s most significant public response yet to alleged Russian influence operations targeting American voters. After the U.S. accused Iran of hacking both the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns last month, the expected actions on Wednesday are a reminder that U.S. authorities continue to view Russia as a significant foreign influence threat to the November election, the sources said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Attorney General Merrick Garland will host a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, attended by senior law enforcement officials, including FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Another Russian company that U.S. authorities are expected to name on Wednesday is the Social Design Agency, which has already been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for allegedly operating fake news websites in Europe on behalf of the Russian government, three of the sources said.

RT, formerly known as Russia Today, operates 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 U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that the media outlet had contributed to Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.

The announcements, expected on Wednesday, would be the Biden administration’s second major attempt to curb RT’s influence in as many months. In July, the Justice Department accused an RT employee of participating in a plot that used a network of about 1,000 social media accounts to impersonate U.S. citizens and spread misinformation about the Ukraine war and other issues. U.S. authorities accuse the Kremlin of funding the plot; a Kremlin spokesman denied the allegations.

Asked for comment, an RT spokesperson did not address the substance of the allegations and instead emailed mocking comments including: “2016 called and wants its cliches back.”

CNN could not immediately reach the Social Design Agency for comment.

Since Russian activities in 2016, a growing number of foreign agents have attempted to influence the U.S. election. Activities have included hacking the Democratic National Committee and leaking documents aimed at damaging Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

In the 2024 election, the Iranian presidential candidate has reportedly used a hack-and-leak maneuver similar to the one used by Russia in 2016, putting U.S. authorities on heightened alert. In June, a group of hackers with ties to the Iranian government successfully targeted the Trump campaign, stealing internal campaign documents and leaking them to news organizations. The hackers broke into the email account of longtime Trump ally Roger Stone to attack campaign staff, CNN reported.

But China is also being closely watched by US authorities. According to US authorities and private experts, the country uses a large number of online accounts to target US voters as well. Chinese leader Xi Jinping told US President Joe Biden at a meeting last November that China would not interfere in the 2024 US presidential election, CNN previously reported.

But any foreign or domestic attempts to sow discord and influence voters’ opinions during the U.S. election do not change the fact that the electoral process is very difficult to manipulate and is protected by multiple defenses. There is no evidence of any successful attempts – either domestic or foreign – to influence an American election by manipulating the vote count.

An estimated 97% of registered voters in the 2024 U.S. election will cast their ballot in a precinct that has a verified paper record – increasing transparency around voting, Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters this week.

“The election infrastructure has never been more secure,” Easterly said.

This story is brand new and will be updated.

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