Russia’s efforts to interfere in U.S. elections – which included the spread of pandemic misinformation last year – continue to evolve, according to CNN.
President Joe Biden’s administration receives regular intelligence reports that show Russia’s interference plans are ongoing, said the outlet. Biden recently said fresh intelligence indicates Russia has already started spreading misinformation about the 2022 midterm elections.
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“Securing our elections is fundamental to our democracy,” a National Security Council spokesman told CNN in a statement about monitoring for possible interference.
“There's definitely a spike in activity around elections — they do take an interest in down-ballot races — but the activity is sustained,” said Emily Harding, who was the deputy staff director for the Senate Intelligence Committee until this spring. “It never really stopped, and we should not be linking our attention or efforts to the election cycle, because they're not.”
A person familiar with the matter confirmed some recent reports have also been about Russia’s efforts to spread disinformation on social media and weaponize U.S. media outlets for propaganda purposes, said CNN.
In 2016, Russia interfered in the election to benefit Donald Trump with Facebook ads. Last year they did it again, spreading false information about Biden while he campaigned against Trump.
A round of sanctions were imposed on 32 Russian groups and individuals this spring for the country’s cyber interference efforts in the 2020 election. Biden also issued a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin this summer during a summit in Geneva.
“We'll find out within the next six months to a year whether or not we actually have a strategic dialogue that matters," Biden said around the time of the June summit. "We'll find out whether we have a cybersecurity arrangement that begins to bring some order.”
Bill Evanina, who served as senior intelligence official in charge of briefing the presidential candidates on threats to the 2020 election, expects Russians to ignore Biden’s message “like they've ignored every message for the last couple decades.” He thinks the administration knows Russia won’t back down just because they were asked to.
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Indeed, recent reports show that the message didn’t stick, said CNN.
As Harding noted, Russia’s interference is not only tied to elections. The nation’s broader strategy is to exploit social chasms between Americans and amplify extremist voices from opposite ends of the political divide.
According to the State Department's Center for Global Engagement, Russia has had a hand in fueling the COVID-19 vaccine debate.
Russia used fringe websites beginning last year to capitalize on vaccine hesitancy and promote conspiracy theories in the U.S. and other countries.
“It's not like they're picking a side,” Harding said. “They're sitting on both sides and yelling from edges.”
One reason for Russia’s ceaseless interference efforts could be that its strategic and military leaders incorporate information warfare tactics in both wartime and peacetime, according to a 2020 report from the Center for Global Engagement. This approach indicates Russia strategic stance is “a state of perpetual conflict with its perceived adversaries,” said the report.
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While strategy remains the same for Russia, its tactics are always changing, said Evanina. Russia’s intelligence services are in competition with each other and are constantly looking for new ways to impress superiors, he explained.
Broad discord may be Russia’s ultimate goal, but one recent focus has been spreading false information favorable to the GOP, said Clint Watts, a former FBI agent now at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, according to CNN.
“The same outlets that were pushing election propaganda and disinformation are still doing that, and principally with respect to the [Jan.
6 Capitol] insurrection at the moment,” Watts said. “Putin is siding with those in the insurrection, and they will continue to push on behalf of GOP and against Biden.”
Intelligence has also found that China and Iran attempt to interfere in U.S. elections though their efforts do not match Russia’s attempts, said CNN.
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