Top officials from five American intelligence and defense agencies surprised White House reporters Thursday assuring Americans in an afternoon briefing that their agencies are working together and with state and local governments and private partners to minimize the threat of foreign election meddling.
National Security Adviser John Bolton pointed to President Donald Trump’s “decisive action” since January 2017 to combat foreign interference in U.S. elections including reinforcing a strong sanctions regime. He added that often what the federal government is doing to protect elections involves highly classified information that prevents some level of sharing with the public. He said that U.S. intelligence and law enforcement continue to provide briefings for members of Congress on the issue.
Bolton, Nielsen, Wray, Coates, several admin officials surprise reporters for White House briefing … purpose of the briefing on section integrity pic.twitter.com/PB90iKifWb
— Michelle Moons (@MichelleDiana) August 2, 2018
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said President Trump has directed these leaders and their agencies to make the matter of election meddling and securing the election process a “top priority.” He affirmed that they have been doing that.
Russia is not the only country with the capability to influence American elections according to Coats. He said that the intelligence community is working together and seeking greater transparency with the public.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen reminded reporters of the first national cybersecurity summit that occurred earlier this week.
Nielsen said, “A single attack can have widespread and cascading consequences,” and that it is not just an attack on American privacy, prosperity, and infrastructure, but U.S. democracy itself. “Election infrastructure is not a destination,” Nielsen said as she emphasized the importance of continued vigilance.
FBI Director Christopher Wray drew attention to the work of the Foreign Influence Task Force. He said that interference from adversaries encompasses a “wide range of activities.” He called the threat “threat is multi-disciplinary.” Those threats include criminal efforts to suppress voting, cyber attacks against cyber infrastructure, manipulating news stories, and escalating divisive issues.
Wray pointed out that the threat is “not just an election cycle threat” and that enemies are trying to undermine the U.S. He said there is a broader threat of operations designed to influence America’s voters and that the scope is both broad and deep.
Wray listed three ways these agencies are working to combat this inference: Investigations and operations, Information sharing and intelligence sharing — including with state, local, and international partners, and working with the private sector including tech and social media companies so they can better monitor their own platforms.
He said the threat is not going away, that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and they haven’t stopped to this day.
Wray expressed confidence that with their partners they can protect the integrity of American elections.
NSA Director General Paul Nakasone said the Department of Defense (DOD) is providing intelligence, information support and technical expertise to DHS to protect U.S. elections.
“Our support has been ongoing and will continue through the midterm election,” he assured. The DOD has provided the FBI with information on foreign adversaries and “alert them of malicious cyber actors.”
“These type of operations are sensitive and require confidentiality for success,” said Nakasone who described their forces as well trained, ready, and very capable.
During a question and answer with reporters, Director Coats affirmed to a reporter that Russia’s Kremlin as well as rogue agents and others were involved in interfering in U.S. elections, “both and even add to that.” He qualified that by stating that interference in the 2018 midterm elections has not been as “robust” as it was in the 2016 presidential election thus far.
Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook
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