Study on "Update on Election Threats to the American Public"

National Cybersecurity and Communications Security Council Director William Evanina Issues An Update on Election Threats For The American People I told the American people in a statement on July 24, 2020, about unclassified foreign threats to the 2020 election and basic steps that could be taken to lessen some of these threats. At that time, I promised that the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) would keep the American people and other important people informed about how election threats were changing, while also keeping our intelligence sources and methods safe. We kept that promise by giving the public more information about what our enemies are planning to do and how they are acting in relation to the 2020 election. We are sharing this information to better inform Americans so that they can play a key role in protecting our election. The most recent public update is shown below: Before the 2020 U.S. elections, foreign governments will continue to use both overt and covert methods to try to change the views and preferences of U.S. voters, change U.S. policies, cause more conflict in the U.S., and make people less trusting of our democratic process. They might also try to break into our election infrastructure for a number of reasons, such as to mess with the voting process, steal private information, or question the validity of the election results. On the other hand, it would be hard for our enemies to mess with or change the results of many elections. A lot of people from other countries have an opinion on who should win the election, and they say it in public and in private. Less often, they try to influence the election in a sneaky way. We are mostly worried about what China, Russia, and Iran are doing and what they might do. • HONG KONG – We think that China would rather not have President Trump reelected because Peking thinks that Trump is unpredictable. China has been increasing its efforts to have an impact on US politics and policy before November 2020 in order to change politicians it sees as being against China's interests and to deflect and counter criticism of China. China will still think about the pros and cons of taking aggressive action, but in recent months, it has become more critical of the current administration's response to COVID-19, the closing of China's Houston Consulate, and other actions. Some things that it has strongly disagreed with the Administration on are its actions and words regarding Hong Kong, TikTok, the legal status of the South China Sea, and China's attempts to control the 5G market. Beijing knows that all of these efforts could have an effect on the race for president. • RUSSSIA – We think that Russia is doing a lot of different things to hurt the reputation of former Vice President Biden and what it sees as a "anti-Russia establishment." This is in line with what Moscow said about him in public when he was Vice President because of his part in the Obama Administration's policies on Ukraine and its support for the anti-Putin opposition in Russia. As an example, Andriy Derkach, a pro-Russian lawmaker from Ukraine, is spreading lies about corruption, including leaked phone calls, to hurt the Democratic Party and former Vice President Biden's campaign. On Russian TV and social media, people with ties to the Kremlin are also trying to support President Trump's campaign. • IRAN: We think that Iran wants to weaken U.S. democracy, hurt President Trump, and split the country up before the 2020 elections. Iran's likely focus in this area will be on online influence, such as spreading false information and antiU.S. content on social media. Part of Tehran's drive to do these things comes from the belief that if President Trump is re-elected, the United States will keep putting pressure on Iran to try to change the government. The above intelligence assessments are the most up-to-date, correct, and unbiased information on election threats that the IC can provide at this time in a public setting. The men and women of the IC work day and night around the world, often at great personal risk, to protect our country. It is their solemn duty to provide objective intelligence analysis. It is also known by the IC that people will want more information as the election gets closer. As it always does, the IC has given and will continue to give the presidential campaigns, political committees, and all Members of Congress classified briefings on election threats. Since the middle of May 2020, we have given these groups nearly 20 classified briefings on election threats. As part of our duties to protect national security, we will also keep the American people informed. The steps we've taken so far to let the public and other important people know about election threats are firsts for the IC. In addition to sharing information, I want you to know that the IC is also doing everything it can to fight cyber and influence campaigns that try to mess with our elections. It continues to back DHS and FBI in their important jobs of keeping the elections safe. As I said in my public statement on July 24, 2020, as Americans we are all in this on the same side. We should be the ones to choose. Attempts by outsiders to change or mess with our elections are a direct threat to our democracy.