The Washington Post is reporting on what is described as top-secret CIA assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top aides are “probably directing” a Russian influence operation directed against the campaign of Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden. According to the report:
September 22, 2020 Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top aides are “probably directing” a Russian foreign influence operation to interfere in the 2020 presidential election against former vice president Joe Biden, which involves a prominent Ukrainian lawmaker connected to President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, a top-secret CIA assessment concluded, according to two sources who reviewed it. On Aug. 31, the CIA published an assessment of Russian efforts to interfere in the November election in an internal, highly classified report called the CIA Worldwide Intelligence Review, the sources said. CIA analysts compiled the assessment with input from the National Security Agency and the FBI, based on several dozen pieces of information gleaned from public, unclassified and classified intelligence sources. The assessment includes details of the CIA’s analysis of the activities of Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach to disseminate disparaging information about Biden inside the United States through lobbyists, Congress, the media and contacts with figures close to the president. “We assess that President Vladimir Putin and the senior most Russian officials are aware of and probably directing Russia’s influence operations aimed at denigrating the former U.S. Vice President, supporting the U.S. president and fueling public discord ahead of the U.S. election in November,” the first line of the document says, according to the sources.
Read the rest here.
GIOR reporting on Russian influence operations directed at the November elections include:
- In early October we reported that Russia’s Internet Research Agency was attempting to use social media accounts to boost the role of conspiracy theories promoted by QAnon.
- In early October we reported that Facebook had removed a network of accounts tied to the Internet Research Agency critical of Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala D. Harris.
- Yesterday we reported on a warning by the US Department of Homeland Security that Russian influence actors are attempting to promote claims by President Trump that mail-in voting will lead to widespread voter fraud.
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