U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies are investigating what they see as a broad covert Russian operation in the United States to sow public distrust in the upcoming presidential election and in U.S. political institutions, intelligence and congressional officials said. The aim is to understand the scope and intent of the Russian campaign, which incorporates cyber-tools to hack systems used in the political process, enhancing Russia’s ability to spread disinformation, The Washington Post reports:
The Kremlin’s intent may not be to sway the election in one direction or another, officials said, but to cause chaos and provide propaganda fodder to attack U.S. democracy-building policies around the world, particularly in the countries of the former Soviet Union. U.S. intelligence officials described the covert influence campaign here as “ambitious” and said it is also designed to counter U.S. leadership and influence in international affairs….. One congressional official, who has been briefed recently on the matter, said “Russian ‘active measures’ or covert influence or manipulation efforts, whether it’s in Eastern Europe or in the United States,” are worrisome.
U.S. authorities are finally waking up to Russian disinformation activities which have already sought to undermine European democratic institutions, notes analyst Anne Applebaum, a board member of the National Endowment for Democracy.
