With 60 days to go until the U.S. presidential election, foreign actors \u2013 primarily Russia, China and Iran \u2013 are \u201cramping up\u201d their influence campaigns, according to an official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe closer we get to Election Day, we see more activity by foreign actors,\u201d the ODNI official told reporters on a conference call Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ODNI officials and an FBI official on the call outlined what they said are threats facing the upcoming election, and said they expect the influence activity from foreign governments will continue as Election Day draws closer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The <\/strong>ABC News presidential debate<\/u><\/a> will take place on Sept. 10 at 9 p.m. ET and air on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Russia is still the \u201cpreeminent and most active foreign influence threat\u201d to the election, officials said, and pointed to actions taken this week by the U.S. Department of Justice as an example of Russia\u2019s efforts to influence the 2024 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>\u201cRussia is looking to amplify divisive rhetoric and influence electoral outcomes, which both speak to Moscow’s broader foreign policy goals, weaken the United States and undermining Washington’s support for Ukraine,\u201d according to an ODNI official. Moscow is further attempting to influence \u201cvoter preferences in favor of the former president and diminish the prospects of the vice president,\u201d according to the official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The allegations come as Russian President Vladmir Putin said<\/u><\/a> Thursday that Russia supports Vice President Kamala Harris for president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe [intelligence community] does not take Putin’s public statements as representative of Russia’s overt intentions,\u201d an ODNI official said, pointing to instances where Putin\u2019s actions were different than his words, including his statements that Russia wouldn\u2019t invade Ukraine, which it did in February 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only is Russia working to influence the presidential election, it’s also working up and down the ballot to influence other races, according to the official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ODNI claims come two days after the Justice Department indicted two employees of the Russian state-controlled media outlet Russia Today, or RT, alleging that they implemented a nearly $10 million scheme “to fund and direct a Tennessee-based company to publish and disseminate content deemed favorable to the Russian government.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The unnamed Tennessee-based company is described in the indictment as “U.S. Company-1.” However, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News that the company is Tenet Media, the website for which features videos from the popular right-wing and pro-Trump commentators Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, Lauren Southern and two others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The indictment does not allege that any commentators knowingly took part in this alleged scheme, specifically saying that two commentators were “deceive[d].” Tenet Media personalities Tim Pool and Benny Johnson have since said publicly that they were victims of a $10 million Russian influence scheme.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Another election threat actor is Iran, which has been called out by the intelligence community for its attempts to infiltrate both presidential campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIran is making a greater effort than in the past to influence this year’s elections, even as its tactics and approaches are similar to prior cycles,\u201d an ODNI official said. \u201cLike Russia, Iran has a multi-pronged approach that looks to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. intelligence community has also assessed China as attempting to influence the down-ballot races, but currently not the presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPRC online influence actors have also continued small-scale efforts on social media to engage U.S. audiences on divisive political issues, including protests about the Israel-Gaza conflict, and promote negative stories about both political parties,\u201d according to an ODNI official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both the Harris and Trump campaigns have been offered briefings by the intelligence community about election threats, officials said on Friday’s call. However, they wouldn\u2019t say whether either campaign had accepted the invitation or had been briefed. Officials on the call also wouldn\u2019t say whether they\u2019ve given defensive briefings to the victims of the alleged threat actors indicted this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An ODNI official said Friday that there also are other countries engaged in efforts to influence the election but did not name them, adding that those efforts were done more overtly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese activities include lobbying political figures to try to curry favor with them in the event that they are elected to office,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n