Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Christopher Wray held a surprise press conference on Wednesday evening, warning that Russia and Iran gained access to U.S. voter registration information.
Thirteen days before Election Day, President Trump’s spy chief also said that the Iranians were using that data to send spoofed emails to harm the commander in chief.
“We would like to alert the public that we have identified that two foreign actors, Iran and Russia, have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections,” Ratcliffe announced. “First, we have confirmed that some voter registration information has been obtained by Iran and separately by Russia. This data can be used by foreign actors to communicate false information to registered voters that they hope will cause confusion, sow chaos, and undermine your confidence in American democracy.”
Ratcliffe, who has overseen the nation’s 17 spy agencies since May, said Tehran was making specific use of the U.S. voter data to harm Trump, but that the U.S. intelligence community has not yet seen similar deployment of the voter information by the Kremlin.
“We have already seen Iran sending spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest, and damage President Trump … Additionally, Iran is distributing other content to include a video that implies that individuals could cast fraudulent ballots, even from overseas. This video and other claims about allegedly fraudulent ballots are not true. These actions are desperate attempts by desperate adversaries,” Ratcliffe said, adding, “although we have not seen the same actions from Russia, we are aware that they have obtained some voter information, just as they did in 2016. Rest assured that we are prepared for the possibility of actions by those hostile to democracy.”
The pair of officials did not mention whether Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, was also targeted by foreign actors.
Ratcliffe also said that reports had circulated in the past 24 hours related to the Iranian meddling effort.
The Miami Herald reported on Wednesday that intimidating emails claiming to be from the right-wing Proud Boys group, but apparently from the Iranians, had been sent to hundreds of voters in numerous counties in Florida, seemingly targeting Democrats. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the threatening emails were also sent to voters in Alaska, Pennsylvania, and Arizona, and the outlet quoted the apparently Iranian-backed emails claiming to be the Proud Boys as saying, “You will vote for Trump on Election Day, or we will come after you.”
Ratcliffe and Wray did not specifically say which states were targeted.
“The Iranians follow U.S. politics closely and saw the last debate where the Proud Boys were an issue and saw an opportunity here to manufacture blowback on Trump by creating a narrative that violent Trump supporters are sending out threatening emails,” a senior intelligence official told the Washington Examiner.
During the press conference, the FBI director stressed that voters should be confident that their votes would count and that the federal government would combat any foreign meddling.
“We are not going to tolerate foreign interference in our elections or any criminal activity that threatens the sanctity of your vote or undermines public confidence in the outcome of the election. When we see indications of foreign interference or federal election crimes, we’re going to aggressively investigate and work with our partners to quickly take appropriate action,” Wray said. “We’ve been working for years as a community to build resilience in our election infrastructure, and today, that infrastructure remains resilient. You should be confident that your vote counts.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was one of many Democrats to criticize or question Ratcliffe’s statements on Iran.
“I will be very interested to hear what they have to say in a classified briefing because everything we have seen in the public domain does not justify the statements that we heard yesterday,” Pelosi said during a press conference on Thursday, adding, “Russia is the villain here from what we have seen in the public domain. Iran is a bad actor but in no way equivalent. And they always try to find some equivalence to protect their friend, Russia.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, and Vice Chairman Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, released a joint statement noting that Ratcliffe and Wray “took an extraordinary step to ensure Americans have clear insight into the efforts of our adversaries to undermine our democratic institutions, including U.S. election systems and infrastructure.” They also said that “it is clear that Iran is now actively seeking to sow dissent and divide us, much like Russia did in 2016 and continues to do today” and that they “reiterate DNI Ratcliffe’s warning against interfering in America’s electoral process.”
Bill Evanina, who leads the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, released an intelligence assessment in early August warning that Russia is “using a range of measures to primarily denigrate” former Vice President Joe Biden, including that Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach “is spreading claims about corruption — including through publicizing leaked phone calls — to undermine” Biden. The same statement also said China “prefers” that Trump not win reelection and is “expanding its influence efforts ahead of November 2020.” The counterintelligence official also said Iran “seeks to undermine” Trump’s presidency.
“As NCSC Director Bill Evanina said on August 7th, the IC assesses ‘that Iran seeks to undermine U.S. democratic institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country in advance of the 2020 elections.’ What the DNI made clear last night is that Iran is executing activities to influence the U.S. election,” Amanda Schoch, the assistant DNI for strategic communications, told the Washington Examiner. “The IC has not changed our assessment on Iran’s intent.”
