Trump administration: No ‘material impact’ from 2018 midterm interference

Feb. 5 (UPI) — The Trump administration said Tuesday there was no evidence any foreign entity had a material impact on the 2018 midterm elections.

Officials with the Justice and Homeland Security Departments said they based their findings on information provided by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. They cited information from government and private sector organizations from all 50 states and more than 1,400 local jurisdictions.

“Although the specific conclusions within the joint report must remain classified, the departments have concluded there is no evidence to date that any identified activities of a foreign government or foreign agent had a material impact on the integrity or security of election infrastructure or political/campaign infrastructure used in the 2018 midterm elections for the United States Congress,” a joint statement said.

The two departments sent their findings in a classified report to President Donald Trump.

More than a dozen U.S. intelligence agencies said in December 2016 that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, mostly using social media to spread misinformation and inflame bipartisan and racial tensions among Americans.

The Justice Department appointed special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate the alleged meddling and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government.

Mueller’s team has indicted a dozen of Russian intelligence officials for a cyberattack against the Democratic Party and other Russian individuals and companies for creating fake social media accounts using real identifying information of U.S. citizens.

“Efforts to safeguard the 2020 elections are already underway,” the administration statement said Tuesday.