According to a new report US, both Russia and Iran attempted to interfere in the presidential election 2020
The report also states that China did not attempt to change the outcome of the election.
As it appears, the report released yesterday shows that the Biden is trying to strengthen relations with key US allies in order to put pressure on Russia and Iran.
“From his first phone call with President Putin, President Biden made it clear that the United States would respond to a range of Russian actions,” a White House official said.
These actions include the SolarWinds hack, for which US agencies have blamed Russia, as well as the poisoning of lawyer and activist Alexey Navalny.
Tehran and Moscow have denied any involvement in the US elections.
However, the US report claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved “operations aimed at undermining President Biden’s candidacy, supporting former President Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process, and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the US.”
According to the report, one of Moscow's key strategies was to spread misleading claims and narratives to certain American media outlets and individuals.
See also: US elections targeted by brute force attacks from Russia
The US claims that these actions were carried out by Russian government organizations.
On the other hand, Iran “carried out an influence campaign aimed at undermining former President Trump’s reelection prospects. However, it did not overtly promote his opponents. And Iran, like Russia, sought to undermine public confidence in the U.S. electoral process and institutions and to sow social tensions.”
See also: US: Sanctions on Iranian entities for alleged interference in upcoming elections
US intelligence agencies have previously accused China of interfering in the 2020 US elections, but according to the new report, there is no evidence to prove any involvement by this country.
Beijing “evaluated its traditional tools of influence – mainly targeted economic measures and pressure – and likely felt that they would be enough to achieve the goal of shaping US-China relations regardless of the winner.”
However, there are also some who argue that China “took some steps to try to undermine the re-election of former President Trump.”
See also: Is the White House using Zoom amid the risk of spying from China?
These estimates were compiled in a report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The research was conducted by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, the FBI, and CISA.
In contrast to previous presidential elections, there is no evidence that foreign hackers attempted to alter the ballots or the voting in the 2020 elections.
“We estimate that it would be difficult for anyone to manipulate the electoral processes on a large scale without being detected“.
In a statement, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiffstressed that the new report shows that Russia remains the greatest threat to the US election.
“While China and Iran also took specific actions related to the U.S. election,” Schiff said, it was at a “less significant or systematic level than that of Russia.”
“We need to be clear to the American people and show them that different countries have different intentions and capabilities and are not equal threats to our free and fair elections,” Schiff said.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warnersaid that while the US has strengthened its defenses against foreign interference, “the problem of foreign actors trying to influence the American electorate will not go away and, given the current division in this country, may find fertile ground to grow in the future.”
In addition to Iran and Russia, the investigation found that Cuba, Venezuela and Lebanon's Hezbollah also attempted to interfere in the elections, albeit on a smaller scale.
Source: CNBC
