US Intelligence Repeats Claims on Possibility of Russian Interference Ahead of Midterms
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The US intelligence believes that Russian authorities are willing to take more aggressive action against the US, including ramping up the attempts to meddle in American elections in retaliation for the US' backing for Ukraine amid the ongoing crisis, CNN reported on Monday.
Citing sources familiar with the intelligence assessments, the report detailed that such actions might entail direct attacks on US election infrastructure, as well as a variety of other measures, Sputnik reported.
Notably, sources reportedly indicated that there is zero signs that Russian leadership has decided to interfere in next elections or that it has at least chosen favorable candidates.
Some experts assessed that because voting systems in the country are quite dispersed and fragmented, attempted hacks on voting infrastructure would be difficult to conclude. And sources in the US intelligence reportedly claimed that purported Russian cyber attacks may go beyond damaging the elections' legitimacy.
"As we apply pressure and as Ukraine applies pressure, he's [Russian President Vladimir Putin] certainly going to expand the options he would consider," one of the anonymous sources is quoted as saying. "So what might he do? I don't think there was any real conclusion to that. Just a consideration of a broad range of things."
One alternative, according to another source familiar with the intelligence, may be "directly attacking election infrastructure," suggesting "a change in Putin's risk tolerance."
Meanwhile, yet another undisclosed US official apparently debunked such assertions as purely speculative, since the US intelligence data lacks reliable evidence for such conclusions.
"We do not have any direct intelligence that Russia is looking to target state, local, or election systems more directly than before, but we are certainly anticipating the possibility. We will continue to actively share any intelligence about increased threats with state and local officials as we receive it," the official said.
Over the weekend, the same narratives were repeated by the Associated Press, whose sources also suggested that Russia could allegedly use Western aid to Ukraine as an excuse for meddling in the elections. However, US intelligence has not yet found any evidence of this, and has not determined which candidates it can support.
According to CNN, the whole US intelligence community is fixated on understanding Putin's worldview since Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine began.
More to that, intelligence officers reportedly briefed lawmakers last week on the Russian president's calculus on future influence activities. According to CNN's sources, if Russia shifts its focus away from Ukraine and toward the Western nations, the US midterm elections this year might be a target for potential attack.
As it happened, the briefing did not indicate that there was any specific intelligence indicating that the Russian government would target US elections, but rather that elections are one of several areas that they could target for influence operations in response to the Ukraine crisis.
The US intelligence has repeated the claims that Russian-linked actors sought to sway the elections in 2016 and 2020, but it failed to provide the base for such assertions. Some current and former US officials, including former President Donald Trump, dismissed these allegations as political accusations related to the failures of the rival political parties.
The US midterm congressional elections are coming up in November, and the next presidential election will take place in 2024, where a new showdown between Trump and Biden is possible.
