Russia’s efforts were aimed at “denigrating the candidacy of President Biden and the Democratic Party, supporting former President Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process and exacerbating socio-political divisions in the United States,” he says.
“Unlike 2016, we have not seen persistent Russian cyber efforts to gain access to electoral infrastructure,” notes the report.
The report also stated that “there is no evidence that any foreign actor has attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 American elections, including electoral registration, voting, tabulation of votes or results reports”.
That conclusion echoes what the cyber arm of the Department of Homeland Security said the day after the 2020 presidential election.
“For the past four years, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has been part of a nationwide effort to ensure that American voters decide American elections. It is important to note that, after millions of Americans voted, we have no evidence of any foreigners. The adversary was able to prevent the Americans from voting or to change the vote counts, “said CISA at the time.
The report also describes Iran and China ‘s efforts to interfere in the elections.
“We believe that Iran has carried out a multifaceted covert influence campaign aimed at undermining ex-President Trump’s re-election prospects – albeit without directly promoting his rivals – undermining public confidence in the US electoral process and institutions, and sowing division and exacerbate social tensions in the USA “, he says.
“We believe that China has not deployed any interference efforts and has considered, but has not deployed any influence efforts aimed at changing the outcome of the United States’ presidential election,” he adds.
“Foreign evil influence is a lasting challenge that our country faces,” said Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines. “These efforts by US adversaries seek to exacerbate divisions and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions. Facing this ongoing challenge requires a government-wide approach based on a precise understanding of the problem, which the Intelligence Community, through assessments such as this one strives to provide. “
This story is breaking and will be updated.