US intelligence officials have said that Russia is seeking to influence the November election…reports Asian Lite News
The Kremlin on Tuesday dismissed as absurd U.S. intelligence assertions that Russia is seeking to meddle in the presidential election and said that U.S. spies were intent on casting Russia as an enemy.
US intelligence officials have said that Russia is seeking to influence the November election, and that Moscow has used Russia-based influence-for-hire companies to shape U.S. public opinion.
“As for these accusations, they are absurd, and we strongly reject them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about the reports from Washington.
“There will be a lot of such statements as the U.S. elections approach because Russia and the head of the Russian state personally are essentially significant factors that both Republicans and Democrats exploit during their political struggle, especially in the election campaign,” said Peskov.
Meanwhile, American intelligence officials have said that Russia, China and Iran are all recruiting Americans to spread propaganda advancing their interests ahead of the US presidential election.
Some US citizens have been knowingly helping foreign governments “seed, promote and add credibility to narratives that serve the foreign actors’ interests,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Monday in its latest update on election security. Others in the US have been duped into aiding the foreign actors, according to the report.
Although intelligence officials, who briefed reporters largely on condition of anonymity Monday, didn’t invoke the names of US presidential candidates, their comments made clear that they believe Russia is trying to help Republican nominee Donald Trump while Iran is seeking to undermine his candidacy.
Russian operatives, in particular, have undertaken efforts to build and use networks of US and Western “personalities” to create and disseminate Russian-friendly narratives,” according to the report.
“These actors are seeking to back a presidential candidate in addition to influencing congressional electoral outcomes, undermine public confidence in the electoral process and exacerbate sociopolitical division,” the intelligence office said. US intelligence agencies found that Russia sought to bolster Trump in 2016 and 2020.
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