By Jonathan Landay, Christopher Bing and Doina Chiacu
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Russian state media outlet RT has built networks of Americans and others to sway U.S. voters into backing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump over his Democratic foe, Kamala Harris, a senior U.S. intelligence official said on Friday.
The official’s comment in a briefing on foreign interference in the November presidential election comes amid a broad U.S. government push to counter alleged efforts by Russia, Iran and China to influence U.S. voters ahead of the election.
On Wednesday, the U.S. charged two RT employees in an alleged scheme to have an American firm produce online content to influence the vote.
“As this week’s U.S. government efforts further demonstrated, Russia is using” private Russian firms and RT “to covertly amplify and stoke domestic divisions and push for Russia’s preferred electoral outcomes,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“RT has built and used networks of US and other Western personalities to create and disseminate Russia-friendly narratives,” the official continued. “These actors among others are supporting Moscow’s efforts to influence voter preferences in favor of the former president (Trump) and diminish the prospects of the vice president (Harris).”
RT responded to the charges on Wednesday with ridicule, telling Reuters, “Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and RT’s interference in the U.S. elections.”
Russia is the most active foreign adversary trying to influence the election, while China is more focused on influencing down-ballot races, the official said.
U.S. officials have previously said they don’t believe China is seeking to influence the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
The official said Iran is more active than in past cycles, stepping up its efforts to sway voters leading up to the presidential and congressional election.
The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Chinese embassy and the Iranian mission to the UN did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Russia, China and Iran have previously denied interfering in U.S. elections.
The U.S. intelligence community is increasing the use of private warnings to targets of foreign influence operations, the official added.
Justice Department officials on Wednesday said the two RT employees used shell companies and fake personas to pay $10 million to an unidentified Tennessee company to produce online videos aimed at amplifying political divisions in the United States.
U.S. officials told a Senate committee in May that an increasing number of foreign actors, including non-state actors, are seeking to influence U.S. elections, and Russia, China and Iran, while the most significant, are far from alone.
(Reporting by Christopher Bing and Jonathan Landay; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Deepa Babington and Don Durfee)
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