Russia Continues Interfering in Election to Try to Help Trump, U.S. Intelligence Says
WASHINGTON — Russia is using a range of techniques to denigrate Joseph R. Biden Jr., American intelligence officials said Friday in their first public assessment that Moscow continues to try to interfere in the 2020 campaign to help President Trump.
At the same time, the officials said China preferred that Mr. Trump be defeated in November and was weighing whether to take more aggressive action in the election.
But officials briefed on the intelligence said that Russia was the far graver, and more immediate, threat. While China seeks to gain influence in American politics, its leaders have not yet decided to wade directly into the presidential contest, however much they may dislike Mr. Trump, the officials said.
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[The assessment] cited efforts coming out of pro-Russia forces in Ukraine to damage Mr. Biden and Kremlin-linked figures who “are also seeking to boost President Trump’s candidacy on social media and Russian television.”
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An American official briefed on the intelligence said it was wrong to equate the two countries. Russia, the official said, is a tornado, capable of inflicting damage on American democracy now. China is more like climate change, the official said: The threat is real and grave, but more long term.
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Russia, but not China, is trying to “actively influence” the outcome of the 2020 election, said the American official briefed on the underlying intelligence.
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Russia tried to use influence campaigns during 2018 midterm voting to try to sway public opinion, but it did not successfully tamper with voting infrastructure.
[But it tried! You see? They have gotten bolder. They went from dezinformatsiya in 2016 to actually trying to change votes in 2018, a dry run for 2020. And do you think the Trump administration will do anything to stop it?]
[Yes, on a “large scale,” say flip California, that is not going to happen. But 50,000 votes here, 50,000 there, 50,000 in a couple more and voila! they have flipped 4 states to Trump if the polling numbers are within even 3%]
