U.S. Fears Russia Might Be Planning Post-Election Chaos

"U.S. Fears Russia Might Be Planning Post-Election Chaos," Steven Lee Myers and Julian E. Barnes (New York Times 10/22/2024)

Our intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia has sought to bolster the re-election efforts of Mr. Trump. Below is a significant portion of a October 22, 2024 article in the New York Times communicating our security and intelligence agencies concerns and intel about Russia’s and other government’s attacks against us, our government, and our political system. Most people in America don’t feel threatened by the Russian Mafia. They should. Putin loathes us and is working to annihilate us. People in America need to know it. I’ve bolded and/or underlined the information I think is especially important for us to know.

“Russia is considering actions to stoke protests and even violence over the U.S. election results, intelligence officials said on Tuesday, as foreign powers appear to be moving aggressively to undermine the democratic process during what is already expected to be a contentions vote count.

Russia…. has already sought to influence the election through myriad efforts to spread disinformation. The officials said new intelligence showed that Moscow had created and spread a staged video falsely accusing Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, of sexual misconduct.

The video, which was quickly debunked, is the latest in a series of false narratives that Russian operatives have fabricated this year.

.…

With the election two weeks away, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, along with the F.B.I. and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, raised new warnings about the post-election period, arguing that Russia … considering stoking and amplifying domestic unrest.

The intelligence agencies said in a report that they expected “foreign actors to continue to conduct influence operations through inauguration, denigrating U.S. democracy, including by calling into question the results of the election.

….

Since the assessment was completed, new intelligence has highlighted Russia’s intentions to encourage protests and violence, especially if former President Donald J. Trump loses to Vice President Kamala Harris, the officials said.

In an election security update, Ms. Haines’s office said that some of the Russian influence efforts ‘are aimed at inciting violence and calling into question the validity of democracy as a political system, regardless of who wins.’

….

American intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia has sought to bolster the re-election effort of Mr. Trump and would act more aggressively after Nov. 5 if Ms. Harris wins. The intelligence report noted that Russian influence campaigns had pivoted their efforts to disparage President Biden to Ms. Harris after he announced he would not run, pushing “conspiracy theories about her elevation to the top of the ticket.”

…..

Security and intelligence officials concluded that Russia was behind the fabricated narratives about Mr. Walz after a flurry of meetings though last weekend.

Last month, the Justice Department seized more than 32 internet domains controlled by people linked to Russia, but scores more remain active. Last week the F.B.I. and the cybersecurity agency released a public service announcement listing nearly 350 websites or social media accounts that government agencies have attributed to Russia or consider highly likely to involve Russians….”