Russian interference in the 2018 United States elections

Last updated

Worldwide Threat Assessment that states Russia is targeting the 2018 US election Os-dcoats-021318.pdf
Worldwide Threat Assessment that states Russia is targeting the 2018 US election

The United States Intelligence Community concluded in early 2018 that the Russian government was continuing the interference it started during the 2016 elections and was attempting to influence the 2018 United States mid-term elections by generating discord through social media. Primaries for candidates of parties began in some states in March and would continue through September. [1] The leaders of intelligence agencies have noted that Russia is spreading disinformation through fake social media accounts in order to divide American society and foster anti-Americanism. [2] [3]

Contents

In 2022, it was reported that a Federal Election Commission investigation had found that American Ethane Company, which had received investments from Russian oligarchs, had contributed Russian money to US political candidates in the 2018 midterm elections, largely in Louisiana. FEC commissioners Ellen Weintraub and Shana M. Broussard criticized the Republicans in the FEC for a "slap on the wrist" civil penalty. [4]

Timeline

February

In February 2018 Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats claimed during a congressional testimony that "the United States is under attack" from Russian authorities. [5] As of February 13, 2018, six US intelligence agencies unanimously assessed that Russian hackers are scanning American electoral systems and using bot armies to promote partisan causes on social media. [6] [7] Previously, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also warned that Russia is interfering in the 2018 midterm election. [8]

In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on February 13, Coats noted that voting in some elections will begin as early as March 2018 for primaries. He stated: "We need to inform the American public that this is real, that this is going to happen." At the same hearing, CIA Director Mike Pompeo told the committee that Russia has already been observed engaging in such tactics. [9]

March

During a press conference in the White House on March 6, 2018, President Trump was questioned on the topic of possible interference in the upcoming midterm election, responding “We won’t allow that to happen. We’re doing a very, very deep study, and we’re coming out with, I think, some very strong suggestions on the ’18 election," adding, “we’ll counteract whatever they do.” [10] [11]

April

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) discovers that the email accounts of four senior officials have been hacked and monitored for months by a probable foreign agent. The hack is kept secret, even from the GOP leadership, until the NRCC is contacted for a December story by Politico. [12]

April 23, 2018, saw a report of a possible Russian hack of the website for state senate candidate Kendall Scudder, a Dallas Democrat candidate. The hack attempted to redirect visitors to another site, and included text in Russian. The incident was reported to the FBI. [13]

May

On May 23, 2018, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a committee hearing, warned that the US government was not protected from Russian interference in the 2018 midterms elections, saying, "No responsible government official would ever state that they have done enough to forestall any attack on the United States of America". [14]

July

On July 10, 2018, the Utah State Elections Director Justin Lee reported that the registration database in Utah recorded a huge uptick in hack attempts, upwards of one billion attempts per day (12,000/second) were seen after Mitt Romney announced his return to campaign for the Senate. Romney's views of Russia as the United States' "biggest geopolitical threat," were widely panned in the 2012 US presidential campaign, but mark him as one of few outspoken Republican opponents of Russian threats. [15] [16]

A July 15 Business Insider article revealed a new Russian intelligence-linked "news" site, USAReally, which follows in the footsteps of previous Russian IRA-backed troll farms, and appears to be an attempt to "test the waters" ahead of the mid-terms. [17] [18]

On July 17, commentator David A. Love said that the WalkAway social media campaign, originally created by New York resident Brandon Straka, had been co-opted by Russian bots in an attempt to discourage Democrats from voting in the mid-term elections, citing Hamilton 68. [19] He cited the #WalkAway hashtag as an example of astroturfing.

On July 20, Microsoft VP for Customer Security and Trust revealed at the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado that Russian hackers had already specifically targeted three Congressional candidates running in the 2018 mid-term elections, using sophisticated spearphishing techniques spoofing a Microsoft website. [20]

On July 26, Missouri's Democratic senator Claire McCaskill revealed that Russian hackers attempted to break into her Senate email account unsuccessfully, [21] confirming a report in The Daily Beast. [22]

On July 31, Facebook announced they had detected and removed 32 pages and fake accounts being used for "coordinated inauthentic behavior," and was "working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other intelligence agencies". [23] [24]

August

On August 2, 2018, the Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats announced along with FBI Director Christopher A. Wray at a White House press conference that Russia is actively interfering in the 2018 elections, saying "It is real. It is ongoing." [25] At the same time, NPR reported that Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen reported to the FBI several attempts to compromise her campaign including both spearphishing attempts on her staff, and a disturbing incident where someone called her offices "impersonating a Latvian official, trying to set up a meeting to talk to me about Russian sanctions and about Ukraine." [26] Her opposition to Russian aggression and support of sanctions has placed her on an official Russian blacklist. [27]

On August 6, Democratic candidate Tabitha Isner, running for Alabama's 2nd congressional district, reported 1,300+ unsuccessful attempts to break into her campaign website from Russian sourced IP addresses, mostly happening between July 17–18, prompting additional website security measures. [28]

On August 8, Florida Senator Bill Nelson told the Tampa Bay Times that Russian operatives have penetrated some of Florida's election systems ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. "They have already penetrated certain counties in the state and they now have free rein to move about," Nelson told the newspaper. He also stated that more detailed information is classified. [29] The Russian hackers may be able to prevent some voters from casting votes by removing people from the voter rolls. [30]

October

On October 19, the Department of Justice charged Russian accountant Elena Khusyaynova with attempting to interfere with the midterm elections. She was involved with handling the money for Internet Research Agency and related entities who had previously been charged with interfering in the 2016 elections. [31]

November

On November 6, the 2018 US midterm elections took place.

December

On December 4, Politico reports that the email accounts of four senior officials at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) were hacked and monitored for months by a probable foreign agent. The hack was kept secret by the NRCC, even from the GOP leadership, until it was contacted by Politico for their story. [12] [32] [33]

On December 22, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats reported that there was no evidence of vote tampering, but influence operations had persisted. "The activity we did see was consistent with what we shared in the weeks leading up to the election. Russia, and other foreign countries, including China and Iran, conducted influence activities and messaging campaigns targeted at the United States to promote their strategic interests." [34]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Conaway</span> American politician (born 1948)

Kenneth Michael Conaway is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Texas's 11th congressional district from 2005 to 2021. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district Conaway represented is located in West Texas and includes Midland, Odessa, San Angelo, Brownwood, and Granbury. Conaway led the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections after the Intelligence Committee chair, Devin Nunes, recused himself. Aside from serving as the chair of the House Ethics Committee, he served as the chair of the House Agriculture Committee, and later its ranking member. Conaway indicated in July 2019 that he would not be seeking reelection. Conaway was succeeded by fellow Republican August Pfluger.

Cyberwarfare by Russia includes denial of service attacks, hacker attacks, dissemination of disinformation and propaganda, participation of state-sponsored teams in political blogs, internet surveillance using SORM technology, persecution of cyber-dissidents and other active measures. According to investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov, some of these activities were coordinated by the Russian signals intelligence, which was part of the FSB and formerly a part of the 16th KGB department. An analysis by the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2017 outlines Russia's view of "Information Countermeasures" or IPb as "strategically decisive and critically important to control its domestic populace and influence adversary states", dividing 'Information Countermeasures' into two categories of "Informational-Technical" and "Informational-Psychological" groups. The former encompasses network operations relating to defense, attack, and exploitation and the latter to "attempts to change people's behavior or beliefs in favor of Russian governmental objectives."

Russian espionage in the United States has occurred since at least the Cold War, and likely well before. According to the United States government, by 2007 it had reached Cold War levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 United States elections</span>

The 2018 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. These midterm elections occurred during Incumbent Republican President Donald Trump's term. Although the Republican Party increased its majority in the Senate, unified Republican control of Congress and the White House was brought to an end when the Democratic Party won control of the House of Representatives in what was widely characterized as a "blue wave" election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic National Committee cyber attacks</span> 2015-16 data breaches by Russian hackers as part of US election interference

The Democratic National Committee cyber attacks took place in 2015 and 2016, in which two groups of Russian computer hackers infiltrated the Democratic National Committee (DNC) computer network, leading to a data breach. Cybersecurity experts, as well as the U.S. government, determined that the cyberespionage was the work of Russian intelligence agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DCLeaks</span> Hacker group

DCLeaks was a website that was established in June 2016. It was responsible for publishing leaks of emails belonging to multiple prominent figures in the United States government and military. Cybersecurity research firms determined the site is a front for the Russian cyber-espionage group Fancy Bear. On July 13, 2018, an indictment was made against 12 Russian GRU military officers; it alleged that DCLeaks is part of a Russian military operation to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections</span>

The Russian government used espionage to interfere in the 2016 United States elections with the goals of sabotaging the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and increasing political and social discord in the United States. According to the U.S. intelligence community, the operation—code named Project Lakhta —was ordered directly by Russian president Vladimir Putin. The 448-page Mueller report, made public in April 2019, examined over 200 contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials but concluded that there was insufficient evidence to bring any conspiracy or coordination charges against Trump or his associates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Links between Trump associates and Russian officials</span>

Since Donald Trump was a 2016 candidate for the office of President of the United States, myriad suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials have been discovered by the FBI, Special counsel, and several United States congressional committees, as part of their investigations into the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. Following intelligence reports about the Russian interference, Trump and some of his campaign members, business partners, administration nominees, and family members were subjected to intense scrutiny to determine whether they had improper dealings during their contacts with Russian officials. Several people connected to the Trump campaign made false statements about those links and obstructed investigations. These investigations resulted in many criminal charges and indictments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mueller special counsel investigation</span> US investigation into Russian interference in US elections

The Robert Mueller special counsel investigation was an investigation into 45th U.S. president Donald Trump regarding Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and was conducted by special prosecutor Robert Mueller from May 2017 to March 2019. It was also called the Russia investigation, the Mueller probe, and the Mueller investigation.

<i>Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections</i> 2017 US government report

Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections is a report issued by the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) that assessed the extent and basis of Russia's interference in United States' elections in 2016. Published on January 6, 2017, the report includes an assessment by the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the type and breadth of actions undertaken by Russia and affiliated elements during the elections. The report examines Russia's utilization of cyberspace such as hacking and the use of internet trolls and bots, and an intensive media campaign to influence public opinion in the United States. Additionally, it analyzes Russia's intentions and motivations in regards to their influence campaign. Issued in two forms, a classified version and a declassified version, the report drew its conclusions based on highly classified intelligence, an understanding of past Russian actions, and sensitive sources and methods.

Konstantin Viktorovich Kilimnik is a Russian–Ukrainian political consultant. In the United States, he became a person of interest in multiple investigations regarding Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, particularly due to his ties with Paul Manafort, an American political consultant, who was a campaign chairman for Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (January–June 2018)</span>

This is a timeline of major events in first half of 2018 related to the investigations into links between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials and spies that are suspected of being inappropriate, relating to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. It follows the timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections before and after July 2016 up until election day November 8, the transition, and the first and second halves of 2017, but precedes the second half of 2018, the first and second halves of 2019, 2020, and 2021. These events are related to, but distinct from, Russian interference in the 2018 United States elections.

Shelby Pierson is the top election security official of the American intelligence community, the chair of the Election Executive and Leadership Board. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats instituted the position and appointed Pierson to fill it in July 2019. The board includes representatives from the intelligence community and other federal agencies coordinating on election security.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian interference in the 2020 United States elections</span>

Russian interference in the 2020 United States elections was a matter of concern at the highest level of national security within the United States government, in addition to the computer and social media industries. In 2020, the RAND Corporation was one of the first to release research describing Russia's playbook for interfering in U.S. elections, developed machine-learning tools to detect the interference, and tested strategies to counter Russian interference. In February and August 2020, United States Intelligence Community (USIC) experts warned members of Congress that Russia was interfering in the 2020 presidential election in then-President Donald Trump's favor. USIC analysis released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in March 2021 found that proxies of Russian intelligence promoted and laundered misleading or unsubstantiated narratives about Joe Biden "to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration." The New York Times reported in May 2021 that federal investigators in Brooklyn began a criminal investigation late in the Trump administration into possible efforts by several current and former Ukrainian officials to spread unsubstantiated allegations about corruption by Joe Biden, including whether they had used Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani as a channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of post-election transition following Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections</span>

This is a chronology of significant events in 2016 and 2017 related to the many suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies during the Trump presidential transition and the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. Following the timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections before and after July 2016, this article begins on November 8 and ends with Donald Trump and Mike Pence being sworn into office on January 20, 2017. The investigations continued in the first and second halves of 2017, the first and second halves of 2018, the first and second halves of 2019, 2020, and 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conspiracy theories related to the Trump–Ukraine scandal</span> Dispute about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections

Since 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his allies have promoted several conspiracy theories related to the Trump–Ukraine scandal. One such theory seeks to blame Ukraine, instead of Russia, for interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. Also among the conspiracy theories are accusations against Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, and several elements of the right-wing Russia investigation origins counter-narrative. American intelligence believes that Russia engaged in a years long campaign to frame Ukraine for the 2016 election interference, that the Kremlin is the prime mover behind promotion of the fictitious alternative narratives, and that these are harmful to the United States. FBI director Christopher A. Wray stated to ABC News that "We have no information that indicates that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election" and that "as far as the [2020] election itself goes, we think Russia represents the most significant threat."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (July–December 2018)</span>

This is a timeline of major events in second half of 2018 related to the investigations into the many suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies relating to the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. It follows the timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections before and after July 2016 up until election day November 8, and the transition, the first and second halves of 2017, and the first half of 2018, but precedes that of the first and second halves of 2019, 2020, and 2021. These events are related to, but distinct from, Russian interference in the 2018 United States elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (July–December 2017)</span>

This is a timeline of major events in the second half of 2017 related to the investigations into the many suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies relating to the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. It follows the timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections before and after July 2016 up until election day November 8, the post-election transition, and the first half of 2017. The investigations continued in the first and second halves of 2018, the first and second halves of 2019, 2020, and 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections (July 2016 – election day)</span> Major events prior to Trumps inauguration

This is a timeline of events related to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senate Intelligence Committee report on Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election</span>

The Senate Intelligence Committee report on Russian interference in the United States presidential election, officially titled Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence United States Senate on Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election, is the official report in five volumes documenting the findings and conclusions of the United States Senate Intelligence Committee concerning the Russian attack efforts against election infrastructure, Russia's use of social media to affect the election, the U.S. government's response to Russian activities, review of the Intelligence Community Assessment, and counterintelligence threats and vulnerabilities. The redacted report is 1,313 pages long. It is divided into five volumes.

References

  1. ↑ Rosenberg, Matthew; Fandos, Nicholas (February 13, 2018). "Russia Sees Midterm Elections as Chance to Sow Fresh Discord, Intelligence Chiefs Warn". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Intelligence chiefs say they're seeing signs of Russian meddling in America's upcoming midterm elections". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  3. ↑ Sheth, Sonam (February 13, 2018). "Top intelligence chiefs issue a dire warning about the Kremlin's ongoing efforts to influence the US, defend against Trump's attacks on the FBI, and explain what happened with a shady Russian offering dirt on Trump". Business Insider. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  4. ↑ Friedman, Dan. "Russians used a US firm to funnel funds to GOP in 2018. Dems say the FEC let them get away with it". Mother Jones. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  5. ↑ Schlesinger, Robert (February 13, 2018). "'Frankly, the United States Is Under Attack': U.S. intelligence chiefs warn of Russian 2018 election interference about which Trump remains unmoved". U.S. News & World Report . Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  6. ↑ Herb, Jeremy (February 13, 2018). "US intel chiefs unanimous that Russia is targeting 2018 elections". CNN . Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  7. ↑ Rosenberg, Matthew; Fandos, Nicholas (February 13, 2018). "Russia Sees Midterm Elections as Chance to Sow Fresh Discord, Intelligence Chiefs Warn". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  8. ↑ Stanglin, Doug (February 7, 2018). "Russia already meddling in U.S. midterm elections, Tillerson says". USA Today . Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  9. ↑ Hennigan, W. J. (February 13, 2018). "Russia Is Already Trying to Undermine the 2018 Elections, Top Spies Say". TIME. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  10. ↑ Rucker, Philip (March 6, 2018). "Trump vows to counteract any Russian interference in 2018 elections". Washington Post . Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  11. ↑ Keith, Tamara (March 6, 2018). "Trump Says U.S. Working To Counteract Russian Election Interference In 2018 Midterms". NPR . Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  12. 1 2 Isenstadt, Alex; Bresnahan, John (December 4, 2018). "Exclusive: Emails of top NRCC officials stolen in major 2018 hack". Politico . Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  13. ↑ Wang, Jackie (April 23, 2018). "Russian hackers may have targeted a Democrat's Texas Senate campaign website | 2018 Elections". Dallas Morning News . Dallas News. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  14. ↑ Cohen, Zachary (May 23, 2018). "Pompeo says the US has not done enough to protect 2018 elections". CNN . Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  15. ↑ Raymond, Art (July 10, 2018). "Mitt Romney on ticket helps boost nefarious web traffic to 1B daily". Deseret News. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  16. ↑ Greene, Tristan (July 12, 2018). "Hackers attack Utah's online voter database more than a billion times a day". Thenextweb.com. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  17. ↑ Roose, Kevin (September 25, 2018). "Is a New Russian Meddling Tactic Hiding in Plain Sight?". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  18. ↑ Davlashyan, Naira; Charlton, Angela (July 15, 2018). "Here's how Russian bots and trolls are testing the waters before the midterm elections, including placing the blame on the US". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  19. ↑ Love, David A. (July 17, 2018). "Russian bots are using #WalkAway to try to wound Democrats in the midterms". CNN. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  20. ↑ Brewster, Thomas (July 20, 2018). "Microsoft: Russian Hackers Are Targeting The Midterms". Forbes. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  21. ↑ Watkins, Eli (July 26, 2018). "Claire McCaskill says attempted Russia hacking on her office 'not successful' - CNNPolitics". CNN. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  22. ↑ Desiderio, Andrew; Poulsen, Kevin (July 26, 2018). "Russian Hackers' New Target: a Vulnerable Democratic Senator". The Daily Beast . Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Removing Bad Actors on Facebook". Facebook Newsroom. July 31, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  24. ↑ Fandos, Nicholas; Roose, Kevin (July 31, 2018). "Facebook Identifies an Active Political Influence Campaign Using Fake Accounts". The New York Times. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  25. ↑ Stewart, Emily (August 2, 2018). "The US intel chief just said Russian interference is "continuing"". Vox. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  26. ↑ Mak, Tim (August 2, 2018). "This Is 'Not Fine': New Evidence Of Russian Interference Meets Inaction, Frustration". NPR. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  27. ↑ Desiderio, Andrew; Poulsen, Kevin (July 30, 2018). "Mystery Sting Targets U.S. Senator for Dirt on Russia Sanctions". The Daily Beast . Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  28. ↑ Gore, Leada (August 6, 2018). "Roby challenger: Russians tried to hack her website". AL.com . Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  29. ↑ Leary, Alex; Bousquet, Steve; Wilson, Kirby (August 8, 2018). "Bill Nelson: The Russians have penetrated some Florida voter registration systems". Tampa Bay Times . Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  30. ↑ Diaz, Daniella (August 9, 2018). "Bill Nelson: Russians 'penetrated' Florida voter registration systems". CNN . Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  31. ↑ Sheth, Sonam (October 19, 2018). "The DOJ has charged a Russian woman working for a close Putin ally with conspiring to interfere in the 2018 midterms". Business Insider. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  32. ↑ Nakashima, Ellen; Harris, Shane (December 4, 2018). "National Republican Congressional Committee says it was hacked during this year's election cycle". Washington Post . Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  33. ↑ Merica, Dan; Cohen, Marshall; O'Sullivan, Donie (December 4, 2018). "House Republican campaign arm hacked during 2018 midterms". CNN . Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  34. ↑ Ferran, Lee; Good, Chris (December 22, 2018). "No evidence of midterm vote tampering, but influence operations persisted: US intelligence". ABC News . Retrieved March 30, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.