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U.S. intelligence agencies say Iran, Russia have tried to interfere in 2020 election

22 October 2020 06:46 (UTC +04:00)

U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday that Russia and Iran have both tried to interfere with the 2020 presidential election, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Ratcliffe made the announcements at a hastily arranged news conference that also included FBI Director Chris Wray.

The announcement two weeks before the election showed the level of alarm among top U.S. officials that foreign actors were seeking to undermine Americans’ confidence in the integrity of the vote and spread misinformation in an attempt to sway its outcome.

“We have confirmed that some voter registration information has been obtained by Iran, and separately, by Russia,” Ratcliffe said during the news conference.

Most of that voter registration is public. But Ratcliffe said that government officials “have already seen Iran sending spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and damage president Trump.”