By Jonathan Landay
WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) – The top Democratic lawmakers on the congressional intelligence committees on Wednesday said they received an intelligence briefing that Russia has been waging a misinformation campaign against Democrats running in next month’s midterm elections.
The comments by Senator Mark Warner and Representative Jim Himes come as Republican President Donald Trump has in recent weeks eased economic sanctions on Russia and increased pressure on Ukraine to end its fight against Russian forces.
Warner and Himes told reporters they were limited in revealing what they had learned in an election security briefing that they had requested from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton because it was classified.
But, they said, Russia was waging the same kind of online misinformation campaign that the US intelligence community had tracked in US elections in 2016, 2020, and 2024.
“And the state of play, I would argue, is that, you know, Russia, similar to prior occasions, is going after Democrats,” Warner said.
He noted news reports that Democrat James Talarico, who is running for the US Senate in Texas, and Senator Jon Ossoff, who is seeking re-election in Georgia, “in particular are being dinged” by fake advertisements created with AI.
The White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Moscow in the past has denied meddling in US elections.
Himes said the pair could not provide details of the misinformation spread by Russia because the material was classified. But he added that Moscow’s conduct has been “the same old, same old.”
“The Russians are kind of throwing everything out there,” said Himes. “Chaos, you know, don’t trust your voting machines.”
He added there was “no reason to believe” that China has not been conducting “extremely targeted” efforts as it has done in the past to influence voters.
The Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beijing has previously denied interfering in US elections.
Recent Reuters/Ipsos polling has shown Democrats leading Republicans on the generic congressional ballot by high single digits to low double digits nationally, bolstering Democratic hopes of regaining control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate.
The lawmakers said they were concerned that Trump could pursue efforts to contest election results, including by claiming foreign hacking of voting infrastructure.
Himes emphasized that there was no evidence that any country could penetrate US election systems and change results.
“Nothing out there suggests that there is even the capability or the intent to do interference, whereas there is a pretty robust influence environment,” said Himes.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Don Durfee and Daniel Wallis)
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