Russia has spent over $300 million on influencing foreign elections since 2014, US officials say

CNN
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A senior Biden administration official said Russia has secretly transferred more than $300 million to foreign political parties since 2014, a senior Biden administration official said on Tuesday, citing assessment of the US intelligence community.

“During its review, the IC discovered that Russia had surreptitiously transferred more than $300 million and planned to secretly transfer at least hundreds of millions more to foreign political parties, officials and politicians in more than two dozen countries and across four continents during this period. “, the official told reporters, adding that “Russia may have secretly transferred additional funds under undetected circumstances. ”

Russia is motivated by “trying to give advantage to specific political parties and undermining democracy in all of these countries,” the official said. “Our view is that one of the most effective ways to counter Russia’s covert influence is to expose it.”

Findings from the review – requested by Biden administration officials earlier this summer – have been downgraded so that the information can be shared with the public and with allies around the world. this office said.

The United States has shared its findings and possible steps to combat this threat with countries invited to the Summit for Democracy, which takes place in December. The US is also quietly notifying affected countries.

“The U.S. intelligence community is separately informing selected countries of Russian covert financing aimed at their particular political environments. We keep these briefings confidential due to the sensitivity of the data and to empower these countries to enhance their electoral integrity privately,” the official said.

The Biden administration hopes to have a number of benefits from sharing this information publicly, including: raising global awareness of the threat of covert Russian political funding, promoting other countries back to the US with their own information on Russian activity and clarification The official said that Russia’s covert political influence is a “global phenomenon that requires coordinated action”.

Russia and the parties it supports are also included in the “notification” when this information is made public.

“By shedding light on Russia’s secret political financing and Russia’s efforts to undermine democratic processes, we are bringing to the attention of these foreign parties and candidates that if they Russian money secretly, we can and we will expose it. So we really see this multifaceted benefit from sharing this microchip research our way,” the official said.

CNN previously reported that US officials are bracing for a combination of foreign interference and domestic disinformation campaigns about the voting process as the midterm elections draw near.

In July, Biden administration announces sanctions against Russia on global “bad influence” and election interference activities. That announcement came a day after the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced a reward of up to $10 million for information on a Russian troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency, led by the State Department. Yevgeny Prigozhin – a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin – “and linked Russian entities and associates to their interference in the US election.”

The IRA, which is known for interfering in the 2016 presidential election, had a monthly budget of $1.25 million at the height of that election, according to a Justice Department indictment. 2018 law against the group and its employees. Meanwhile, Facebook revealed in 2017 that Russian scammers bought more than $100,000 in ads on their platform during the 2016 election.

A senior administration official identified the US vulnerabilities on Tuesday, saying, “Russia’s covert political influence poses a major challenge to the United States.”

The Biden administration believes it is important to acknowledge that Russian interference is not just an isolated challenge to the United States.

“The purpose of this exposure campaign is to look beyond America without denying that this is our concern and the point of vulnerability we have here. But we wanted to use the exposure campaign to put our context within the broader framework of challenging Russia’s covert political influence, which is global in nature as the IC analysis makes clear.” , the official said.

“We’re clear that it’s happening, it’s pervasive, it’s global,” the administration official said of Russia’s covert political activities.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday sent a cable to embassies around the world detailing the findings of this intelligence community review.

Russian global intervention has been documented in certain cases, including in Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania. Blinken’s cable said the assessment of the US intelligence community included Russian intervention in more than two dozen countries.

“For Russia, the benefits of ‘secret political funding’ are twofold: developing influence over the individuals and parties that benefit, and increasing the likelihood that those parties perform well in elections. nominate. The potential ties between these parties and their Russian philanthropists undermine the integrity and public trust in democratic institutions,” cable said.

Blinken detailed Russian methods of intervention, including lavish gifts, cash or cryptocurrency, money transfers through shell companies and consulting organizations, and the use of funds accounts and resources of the Russian embassy.