The voter intimidation operation apparently used email addresses obtained from state voter registration lists, which include party affiliation and home addresses and can include email addresses and phone numbers. While many of their operations have been focused on promoting propaganda in pursuit of Iran’s interests, this incident is clearly aimed at undermining voter confidence.” He promised that if he wins another term he will reach a new accord with Iran over its nuclear program.Ī top cyberthreat analyst, John Hultquist of FireEye, said the development marked “a fundamental shift in our understanding of Iran’s willingness to interfere in the democratic process. Trump, speaking at a rally in North Carolina, made no reference to the intelligence announcement, but repeated a familiar campaign assertion that Iran is opposed to his reelection. “The world has been witnessing U.S.′ own desperate public attempts to question the outcome of its own elections at the highest level.” “Unlike the U.S., Iran does not interfere in other country’s elections,” Miryousefi wrote on Twitter. content.”Īlireza Miryousefi, a spokesman for Iran’s mission to the United Nations, denied Tehran’s involvement. democratic institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country in advance of the 2020 elections.” It said the country would probably continue to focus on “spreading disinformation on social media and recirculating anti-U.S. It would not be the first time that the Trump administration has said Tehran is working against the president.Īn intelligence assessment in August said: “Iran seeks to undermine U.S. One possibility is the messages may have been intended to align Trump in the minds of voters with the Proud Boys after he was criticized for failing to unequivocally denounce the group during the first presidential debate. Though Democratic voters were targeted, Ratcliffe said the spoofed emails were intended to harm Trump, though he did not elaborate how. The emails falsely purported to be from the far-right group Proud Boys and warned that “we will come after you” if the recipients didn’t vote for Trump. has linked Tehran to messages sent to Democratic voters in at least four states, including battleground locations like Pennsylvania and Florida. Wray and Ratcliffe did not describe the emails, but officials familiar with the matter said the U.S. Iran sent spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters and sow unrest and also distributed a video that falsely suggested voters could cast fraudulent ballots from overseas, Ratcliffe said. The two officials called out both Russia and Iran for having obtained voter registration information, though such data is sometimes easily accessible and there was no allegation either country had hacked a database for it. Such direct attempts to sway public opinion are more commonly associated with Moscow, which conducted a covert social media campaign in 2016 aimed at sowing discord and is again interfering this year, but the idea that Iran could be responsible suggested that those tactics have been adopted by other nations, too. government’s concern about efforts by foreign countries to influence the election by spreading false information meant to suppress voter turnout and undermine American confidence in the vote. The announcement was made at a hastily called news conference 13 days before the election. The officials did not lay out specific evidence for how they came to pinpoint Iran, but the activities attributed to Tehran would mark a significant escalation for a country some cybersecurity experts regard as a second-rate player in online espionage. officials accused Iran on Wednesday of being behind a flurry of emails sent to Democratic voters in multiple battleground states that appeared to be aimed at intimidating them into voting for President Donald Trump.
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