Staff Reports
The 2022 U.S. political campaign has been rocked by the clandestine meddling of China, Russia, and Iran, who have all been trying to pull the wool over American voters’ eyes with their covert influence tactics, according to a newly declassified intelligence report. This report, published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, reveals that these countries have been up to no good in their efforts to manipulate and misinform American citizens.
China, known for its shady business, targeted Congress and engaged in sneaky online influence operations, including scanning over 100 state and national party websites. Their goal? To undermine and promote specific candidates from both major U.S. political parties. But fear not, fellow patriots, as the report assures us that China didn’t favor one political party over the other. That’s right, because Congress remains adversarial to Beijing no matter who’s in charge.
China, Russia, Iran tried to meddle in 2022 midterms — U.S. intel reporthttps://t.co/lkTWPAIHsz pic.twitter.com/XZuAeRCVPV
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) December 20, 2023
If that wasn’t enough, Iran, with its theocratic regime, has been backing liberal candidates and using fake personas to spread left-leaning propaganda. These Iranian hackers even attempted to shape U.S. policy and collect sensitive election-related information. They’ve been trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people by posing as left-leaning Americans and voicing strong pro-Palestinian sentiments. Sneaky, sneaky!
Then we have Russia, stirring the pot by denigrating Democrats and targeting conservative U.S. males over 40 who are interested in right-wing conservatism. The report points out that the Kremlin aimed to erode U.S. public support for aid to Ukraine. What’s more, they sought to win over left-leaning audiences by claiming that supporting Ukraine might lead to a direct war with Russia. These attempts are as clear as day – Russia is trying to cause chaos and division within our great nation.
But wait, there’s more. U.S. intelligence analysts have also found that Cuba has been working to cozy up to critical members of the U.S. media and establish relationships with them. It seems like everyone and their uncle has been trying to meddle in American politics!
While the report states that there haven’t been any persistent hacking efforts directed by foreign governments against election infrastructure since the 2016 presidential election cycle, American cyber officials are still gearing up for potential foreign threats in the 2024 elections. The National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command are on high alert and are keeping a close eye on China’s potential game plan for the upcoming elections. It’s clear that these foreign adversaries won’t stop at anything to disrupt our democracy, but rest assured, the United States is ready to face these threats head-on!
