US intel officials: Kremlin once again prefers Trump | CyberScoop<\/title> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/us-intel-officials-kremlin-once-again-prefers-trump\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US intel officials: Kremlin once again prefers Trump\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a briefing with reporters on Tuesday, U.S. intelligence officials said Russia is the most active U.S. adversary seeking to influence American politics.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/us-intel-officials-kremlin-once-again-prefers-trump\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-09T22:59:54+00:00\"> <meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-09T23:00:38+00:00\"> <meta property=\"og:image\" 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class=\"post-template-default single single-post postid-80978 single-format-standard\" id=\"readabilityBody\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/us-intel-officials-kremlin-once-again-prefers-trump\/#main\" class=\"skip-to-content-link visually-hidden-focusable\">Skip to main content<\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-desktop\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.552447552448\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"30.846774193548\">\n<p> In a briefing with reporters on Tuesday, U.S. intelligence officials said Russia is the most active U.S. adversary seeking to influence American politics. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/us-intel-officials-kremlin-once-again-prefers-trump.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" 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sizes=\"(max-width: 1012px) 100vw, 1012px\"><figcaption> President Donald Trump attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski \/ AFP via Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"46.295802275402\"><body readability=\"94.399288572699\"><\/p>\n<p>U.S. officials tracking efforts to meddle in American politics say that Russia continues to be the most active foreign power trying to influence voters, with the Kremlin once again preferring Donald Trump over his Democratic rival in November\u2019s election.<\/p>\n<p>In a briefing with reporters on Tuesday, U.S. intelligence officials speaking on condition of anonymity said the Kremlin is actively trying to shape American politics. While Russia hasn\u2019t been observed trying to hack voting machines or voter registration systems, Moscow is engaged in a \u201cwhole-of-government approach to influence the election, including the presidential race, Congress and public opinion,\u201d an official at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia\u2019s efforts were designed to boost the electoral chances of Trump, the Republican nominee. When asked if that continued to be true about Moscow\u2019s efforts today, the ODNI official said \u201cwe have not observed a shift in Russia\u2019s preferences for the presidential race from past elections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Separately on Tuesday, American prosecutors <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/us-international-authorities-seize-russian-ai-bot-farm\/\">said they had seized a pair of domains<\/a> used by a Russian influence operation that relied on AI tools to generate content and personas that attempted to shape social media conversations about U.S. politics. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Officials at Tuesday\u2019s briefing said China appears to be mostly refraining from carrying out influence operations targeting American politics, as it perceives little gain from more robust influence operations. <\/p>\n<p>Iran, by contrast, was described by one official as a \u201cchaos agent\u201d more interested in exploiting U.S. political and social tensions than it is in fostering a specific electoral outcome.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dni.gov\/index.php\/newsroom\/press-releases\/press-releases-2024\/3842-statement-from-director-of-national-intelligence-avril-haines-on-recent-iranian-influence-efforts\">statement<\/a> on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines accused Iran of seeking to amplify U.S. protests regarding Israel\u2019s military operation in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have observed actors tied to Iran\u2019s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests and even providing financial support to protestors,\u201d said Haines, who noted that despite Iranian interference that she believed protesters are expressing their beliefs in good faith and exercising their free speech rights.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. national security officials have described the current foreign influence landscape as both more complex and less intense than previous election cycles.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Officials at Tuesday\u2019s briefing said they had no evidence that any country is attempting to directly interfere with this year\u2019s voting or election process. \u201cWe have not observed any country plan or undertake efforts to degrade or disrupt the U.S.\u2019 ability to hold an election,\u201d the ODNI official said. <\/p>\n<p> ODNI officials have said they view election \u201cinfluence\u201d activity, such as disinformation campaigns that seek to sway public opinion, as separate and distinct from \u201cinterference\u201d that seeks to directly meddle with election infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p> Tuesday\u2019s briefing tracks with public reports released this year by <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.microsoft.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/prod\/sites\/5\/2024\/04\/MTAC-Report-Elections-Report-Nation-states-engage-in-US-focused-influence-operations-ahead-of-US-presidential-election-04172024.pdf\">Microsoft<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/scontent-iad3-2.xx.fbcdn.net\/v\/t39.8562-6\/445235204_402858536059630_7403303878106178024_n.pdf?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=b8d81d&_nc_ohc=VW839ls0dyoQ7kNvgFBRzue&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.xx&oh=00_AYCSGAmfV1qIf34wioAh4lqyJ9wJ0Xkl9CelbG2aOori9w&oe=669362BF\">Meta<\/a> identifying Russia as the top purveyor of influence operations to directly target U.S. elections. Groups linked to the Russian government, like Doppelganger and CopyCop, have pumped out massive amounts of propaganda and fake content on Telegram and other platforms over the past year, though much of it appears to have failed to catch on with the broader public.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, officials described Iran and China as having far more muted roles.<\/p>\n<p>While China is conducting influence activity on most social media platforms this cycle, they are moving \u201cmore cautiously\u201d than Russia because officials see \u201clittle gain in choosing between two parties that are perceived as both seeking to contain Beijing,\u201d one official said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Intelligence officials said the Chinese government is seeking to expand its ability to collect and monitor data on social media platforms, something that could be deployed in later efforts to sway public opinion.<\/p>\n<p>Chinese-linked disinformation actors have been heavily involved in other elections, like in Taiwan, where they deployed generative AI and mirrored Russian hack-and-leak tactics in an attempt to dampen the electoral prospects of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. Those efforts,<a href=\"https:\/\/teamt5.org\/en\/posts\/whitepaper-cyber-threats-against-taiwan-s-2024-presidential-election\/\"> while extensive<\/a>, largely failed as the DPP won its third consecutive presidential term and a majority of seats in the legislature this past January.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"3.2921535893155\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"13\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/us-intel-officials-kremlin-once-again-prefers-trump-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Derek B. Johnson\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Derek B. Johnson<\/h4>\n<p> Derek B. Johnson is a reporter at CyberScoop, where his beat includes cybersecurity, elections and the federal government. Prior to that, he has provided award-winning coverage of cybersecurity news across the public and private sectors for various publications since 2017. 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{"id":4385,"date":"2024-07-09T17:59:54","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T22:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=80978"},"modified":"2024-07-09T17:59:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T22:59:54","slug":"us-intel-officials-kremlin-once-again-prefers-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/07\/09\/us-intel-officials-kremlin-once-again-prefers-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"US intel officials: Kremlin once again prefers Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"