
US President Donald Trump speaks to a group of young Republicans at Dream City Church in Phoenix, on 23 June 2020; Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Delaware, on 30 June 2020. AP/Evan Vucci; AP/Patrick Semansky
By Eric Tucker and Deb Riechmann | AP
WASHINGTON, DC, 9 August 2020
US intelligence officials believe that Russia is using a variety of measures to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ahead of the November election and that individuals linked to the Kremlin are boosting President Donald Trump’s reelection bid, the country’s counterintelligence chief said in the most specific warning to date about the threat of foreign interference.
US officials also believe China does not want Trump to win a second term and has accelerated its criticism of the White House, expanding its efforts to shape public policy in America and to pressure political figures seen as opposed to Beijing’s interests.
The statement Friday from William Evanina is believed to be the most pointed declaration by the US intelligence community linking the Kremlin to efforts to get Trump reelected — a sensitive subject for a president who has rejected intelligence agency assessments that Russia tried to help him in 2016. It also connects Moscow’s disapproval of Biden to his role as vice president in shaping Obama administration policies supporting Ukraine, an important US ally, and opposing Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Asked about the intelligence assessment Friday evening in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump appeared to dispute the idea that Russia was disparaging Biden. “I think the last person Russia wants to see in office is Donald Trump because nobody has been tougher on Russia than I have — ever,” he said.
But the president seemed to agree with the intelligence indicating China didn’t want him reelected. “If Joe Biden was president, China would own our country,” he said.
Evanina’s statement, three months before the election, comes amid criticism from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional Democrats that the intelligence community has been withholding from the public specific intelligence information about the threat of foreign interference in American politics.
“The facts are chilling,” Sen Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, wrote in an op-ed published Friday evening in The Washington Post. “I believe the American public needs and deserves to know them. The information should be declassified immediately.”
The latest intelligence assessment reflects concerns not only about Russia but China and Iran as well, warning that hostile foreign actors may seek to compromise election infrastructure, interfere with the voting process or call into question voting results. Despite those efforts, officials see it as unlikely that anyone could manipulate voting results in any sweeping way, Evanina said.
“Many foreign actors have a preference for who wins the election, which they express through a range of overt and private statements; covert influence efforts are rarer,” said Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. “We are primarily concerned about the ongoing and potential activity by China, Russia and Iran.”
Concerns about election interference are especially acute following a wide-ranging effort by Russia to meddle in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf through both the hacking of Democratic emails and a covert social media campaign aimed at sowing discord among US voters. Trump has routinely resisted the idea that the Kremlin favoured him in 2016, but the intelligence assessment released Friday indicates that unnamed Kremlin-linked actors are again working to boost his candidacy on social media and Russian television.
The White House reacted to Friday’s news with a statement saying “the United States will not tolerate foreign interference in our electoral processes and will respond to malicious foreign threats that target our democratic institutions.”
Tony Blinken, a senior adviser to Biden’s campaign, responded that Trump “has publicly and repeatedly invited, emboldened, and even tried to coerce foreign interference in American elections. … Joe Biden, on the other hand, has led the fight against foreign interference for years.”
Democrats in Congress who have participated in recent classified briefings on election interference have expressed alarm at what they have heard. They have urged the US intelligence community to make public some of their concerns in part to avoid a repeat of 2016, when Obama administration officials were seen as slow and overly deliberate in their public discussion of active Russian measures in that year’s election.
Pelosi and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, both California Democrats, said Friday that they were “pleased that Mr Evanina heeded our call to make additional details public about Russia’s malign interference campaign.” But they also criticized him for naming Iran and China “as equal threats to our democratic elections.”
When it comes to Russia, US officials assess that it is working to “denigrate” Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia “establishment” among his supporters, Evanina said. US officials believe that tracks Moscow’s criticism of Biden when he was vice president for his role in Ukraine policies and his support of opposition to Putin inside Russia.
The US statement called out by name Andrii Derkach, a pro-Russia Ukrainian lawmaker who has been active in leveling unsubstantiated corruption allegations against Biden and his son Hunter, who used to sit on the board of Burisma, an Ukrainian natural gas company. That effort has included publicizing leaked phone calls.
Democrats, including members of the Senate intelligence panel, have voiced concerns that an ongoing Republican probe into Hunter Biden and his work in Ukraine would parallel Russian efforts and amplify Russian disinformation. That investigation is being led by Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the chairman of Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Though US officials allege that China has its own preference, Friday’s statement did not directly accuse Beijing of election interference or taking action to prop up Biden.
Instead, the statement said, China views Trump as “unpredictable” and does not want to see him win reelection. China has been expanding its influence efforts ahead of the November election in an effort to shape US policy and pressure political figures it sees as against Beijing.
The Trump administration’s relationship with Beijing has taken a starkly more adversarial tone in recent weeks, including the closure of China’s consulate in Houston and an executive order Thursday that banned dealings with the Chinese owners of consumer apps TikTok and WeChat,
“Although China will continue to weigh the risks and benefits of aggressive action, its public rhetoric over the past few months has grown increasingly critical of the current Administration’s COVID-19 response, closure of China’s Houston Consulate, and actions on other issues,” the statement said.
The top foreign policy adviser of China’s ruling Communist Party, Yang Jiechi, said Friday that “China has no interest in meddling in US domestic politics.”
On Iran, the assessment said Tehran seeks to undermine US democratic institutions as well as Trump and divide America before the election.
“Iran’s efforts along these lines probably will focus on online influence, such as spreading disinformation on social media and recirculating anti-US content,” Evanina wrote. “Tehran’s motivation to conduct such activities is, in part, driven by a perception that President Trump’s re-election would result in a continuation of US pressure on Iran in an effort to foment regime change.”
During a panel discussion later Friday at the DEF CON hacker convention, federal cybersecurity officials were asked which foreign threat they considered most serious.
“I don’t think I would say one is scarier than the other, per se. Certainly some of these adversaries are at little bit more experienced,” said the National Security Agency’s election lead, David Imbordino.
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Cynthia Kaiser, the FBI’s deputy chief of analysis for national cyber threats. “If if you ask me what the biggest threat is, it’s the kind of constant drumbeat or influence campaigns that are going to make people feel like they are less confident in our (elections) system.”
Russia wants Trump to win because they want to see American democracy crumble. Trump has no regard for rule of law, he his policies are all corporate oriented, he hates immigrants, and thinks that global warming is a hoax.
China wants Trump out for his unrelenting high tariff on Chinese imports. This will reduce flow of Chinese goods to US. China retaliated by halting imports of all American agricultural goods. Trump’s tariff game benefited nobody, but China wants to see its good keep going to the US. China is pinning hope on Biden for that to happen, and it will happen if Biden comes, because they both need export/import for mutual benefit. And, Trump is now using China to deflect all his wrongdoings. He blames China for his failings for his reelection.
US election gets all the attention from the whole world because it is sitting on top of $22 trillion GDP. The whole world has a stake in it in the form of export/import, loans or grants. A sensible US President takes all the stake holders along, whereas a non-sensible like Trump isolates US from the rest.
Trump, as we all know has been a disaster for both the US and the rest of the world. His policies have been pro-rich, anti-environment. He has no qualms about lying. It is becoming clearer by the day that Trump will not come back to White House for a second term.
So the story is that Donald Trump is going to lose because of the riots, protests, right? No! actually what we’re looking at is the final and end days of the left. The riots and protests are inevitable irrespective of who is in the white house. There is unrest and chaos all over the world and coming times there will be increasing chaos leading to either pandemic type situation or war like situation. We are witnessing the last few years of the Kaliyuga. So, brace yourself coz it will be a few rough years of turmoil and upheaval before the dawn of Golden age. A time where justice will be restored, Peace will prevail and love will reign. There will be no need for left ideology or right ideology only higher consciousness with higher vibration.
Who wins the US election is the business of the American people. President Trump has been not good for America as a great nation both domestically and internationally. The allies that were assiduously cemented by successive US leaders in the past have been alienated.
12,000 US marines have been withdrawn from Germany as a form of punishment. Whether it’s the European or the Asian allies, Trump treated them with contempt. The only ally which has been standing tall with America is Australia. All others have not given up but have kept a safe distance.
Domestically, his attack on the press, disregard for the truth and viciousness against his opponents have degraded the office of the US President. He has divided the country because of his failure to distance himself from the white supremests.
The most disturbing aspect about him is, he is already warning that he will not accept the verdict if he doesn’t win in November. This goes to show the mafia and gangster mentality he has. It will bring great disrepute and shame if America is embroiled in an election dispute like those corrupt African countries.
What will be Biden’s foreign policy against China is unknown. In all probability it will not be as harsh as Trump on trade. The Democrates are the preferred party by China. However, the policy on Taiwan and South China Sea will remain the same.
Biden will, once again rope in America’s old allies and will continue to court India as a geographical counterweight to contain China while India is more willing to be closer to the US as a deterrent against Chinese aggression.
Apart from the traditional European allies and Asian allies like Australia, Japan, S Korea etc there will be new allies who are fearful of Chinese aggression in S East Asia.