Bill Evanina, the director of the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center, warns that intelligence has identified election interference efforts from actors in Russia and desires for a specific outcome from China and Iran.
While China and Iran have motive to want to interfere in the election, only Russia has been identified as actively working to do so.
The report goes as far as identifying pro-Russia Ukrainian official Andriy Derkach as a puppeteer behind false claims of corruption by Joe Biden and leaked phone calls intended to undermine Biden’s candidacy. (The U.S. Treasury later identifies Derkach as acting on behalf of Russia for at least the past decade).
The Russians have given Republicans stolen tapes of secret conversations Biden held with Ukrainians during his tenure as vice-president, and pro-Trump media outlets have hyped up the material, but nothing they have is inconsistent with the narrative that mainstream news organizations found. Biden was working to clean up Ukraine.
Intelligencer
Andriy Derkach’s father is Leonid Derkach, a former head of the Ukrainian secret service. In 2000, he was recorded discussing working with transnational crime ring leader Semion Mogilevich. Andriy was already a member of the Ukrainian parliament at the time.
Derkach has been working publicly with Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, and the two met in Kiev last December if not more recently. In 2019, Derkach sent letters asking for support to Sen. Lindsey Graham, Rep. Devin Nunes, and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
China and Russia are on opposing sides, with China hoping that Donald Trump will leave the White House in January. The country is showing interest in altering U.S. policies and pressure anti-China politicians.
“Although China will continue to weigh the risks and benefits of aggressive action, its public rhetoric over the past few months has grown increasingly critical of the current administration’s COVID-19 response, closure of China’s Houston consulate and actions on other issues.”
Bill Evanina, U.S. Intelligence
China and Russia are also engaged in a systemic infiltration of Germany.
Iran’s interest is in online political discord. Evanina says that Iran may be focused on spreading disinformation and reshaping the way Americans view the U.S. government and the Trump presidency. Essentially, efforts similar to that of Russia in the 2016 election but without the pro-Trump spin.
“Tehran’s motivation to conduct such activities is, in part, driven by a perception that President Trump’s re-election would result in a continuation of U.S. pressure on Iran in an effort to foment regime change.”
Bill Evanina, U.S. Intelligence
Sources
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/u-s-sees-election-threats-from-china-russia-and-iran
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/08/russia-ukraine-trump-biden-intelligence-foreign-interference-election.html?fbclid=IwAR2uiFARCTbUa9Okz7dtUV4MwWcgh-zrnOO4TCR7pdjhRKtHX5pcT_9AkPs
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/rudy-giuliani-kyiv-ukraine-impeachment
Photo: Public Domain
