{"id":2315622,"date":"2024-07-29T17:01:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T21:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/iran-is-meddling-in-election-against-trump-but-russia-is-for-him-intelligence-community-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-07-29T17:05:49","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T21:05:49","slug":"iran-is-meddling-in-election-against-trump-but-russia-is-for-him-intelligence-community-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/iran-is-meddling-in-election-against-trump-but-russia-is-for-him-intelligence-community-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran is meddling in election against Trump, but Russia is for him: Intelligence community &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Firan-is-meddling-in-election-against-trump-but-russia-is-for-him-intelligence-community-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2315622&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The U.S. intelligence community has assessed that Iran is attempting to interfere in the 2024 presidential election to undermine former President Donald Trump, while Russia is working to \u200bpromote \u2062his candidacy. An official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) indicated that Tehran&#8217;s efforts aim to create distrust in American political institutions and stir social discord, similar to their \u200bactions during the 2020 election when they sought to harm \u2064Trump\u2019s chances. Iran reportedly employs a network of online personas to disseminate disinformation, particularly\u2062 against \u2064Trump, who is viewed unfavorably by Iranian leaders due to heightened tensions \u2062between Iran and the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, Russia is using \u200cinfluence-for-hire firms to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/n-y-attorney-generals-office-discovers-astroturf-lobbying-scheme\/\" title=\"N.Y. Attorney General\u2019s office discovers astroturf lobbying scheme\">sway public opinion<\/a> in favor of Trump, as per the assessment that it aims to diminish confidence in the electoral process \u2064and the Democratic\u2063 Party, while further <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-accuses-biden-and-democrats-of-destroying-our-democracy\/\" title=\"Trump accuses Biden and Democrats of \u2018destroying our democracy\u2019\">deepening political divisions<\/a> within \u2063the United \u2063States. The intelligence community\u200c has not noted any changes in Russia&#8217;s strategic preferences since\u200d the last election cycle. Additionally, Iranian\u2063 threats against Trump \u2064and former members of his administration remain \u200ca \u2063concern, linked to past U.S. military actions against Iranian leadership.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Iran is meddling in election against Trump, but Russia is for him: Intelligence community<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1712785\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The intelligence community believes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/iran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Iran<\/a> is attempting to meddle in the 2024 U.S. presidential election against former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Donald Trump<\/a>, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/russia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Russia<\/a> wants him to win.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran sought to harm Trump&rsquo;s reelection chances ahead of the 2020 presidential election, while Moscow worked to denigrate President Joe Biden, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence revealed in 2021. An official from the ODNI affirmed to reporters on Monday that both sides are doing that again in advance of this election.<\/p>\n<p>Iran is &ldquo;primarily focused on fueling distrust in U.S. political institutions and increasing social discord,&rdquo; the official noted.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Since our last update, the IC has observed Tehran working with the presidential election, probably because Iranian leaders want to avoid an outcome they perceive with increased tensions with the United States. Iran&rsquo;s preference is focused on this core interest,&rdquo; the ODNI official said, referencing a briefing with reporters on June 12. &ldquo;Iran is opposing the candidate that Iran&rsquo;s leaders perceive would increase those tensions.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Tehran relies on &ldquo;a vast web&rdquo; of online personas to spread propaganda and disinformation, which &ldquo;have notably been active in exacerbating tensions with Israel,&rdquo; while Russia is &ldquo;leveraging&rdquo; influence-for-hire firms, some based in Russia, to contribute to public opinion in the U.S. discourse, including with election-related operations.<\/p>\n<p>When asked directly which candidate the ODNI assesses Tehran favors, the official directed reporters to the assessment of the last election, which found: &ldquo;We assess that Iran carried out a multipronged covert influence campaign intended to undercut former President Trump&rsquo;s reelection prospects, though without directly promoting his rivals, undermine public confidence in the electoral process and U.S. institutions, and sow division and exacerbate societal tensions in the U.S.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We assess that Russian President [Vladimir] Putin authorized, and a range of Russian government organizations conducted, influence operations aimed at denigrating President Biden&rsquo;s candidacy and the Democratic Party, supporting former President Trump, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/susan-collins-says-the-golden-era-of-respect-she-once-had-for-the-cdc-is-over\/\" title=\"Susan Collins Says The Golden Era Of Respect She Once Had For The CDC Is Over\">undermining public confidence<\/a> in the electoral process, and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the U.S.,&rdquo; it continued.<\/p>\n<p>The official confirmed that the ODNI has &ldquo;not observed a shift in Russia&rsquo;s preference&rdquo; for the presidential election and added that &ldquo;given the role the U.S. is playing with regard to supporting Kyiv,&rdquo; Moscow is supporting Republicans because there is more dissent in the GOP about continuing to aid Ukraine militarily.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran has targeted Trump and several members of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-refuses-to-denounce-antifa-despite-group-continuing-to-wreak-havoc-across-u-s\/\" title=\"White House refuses to denounce Antifa despite group continuing to wreak havoc across U.S.\">national security team<\/a> who were involved in the 2020 U.S. military strike in Iraq that targeted and killed Iranian military leader Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The intelligence community found intelligence weeks ago that it could be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3087125\/iran-rebuffs-suggestion-assassination-plot-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>planning<\/a> an attack against Trump, which was unrelated to the assassination attempt against Trump earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As we have said many times, we have been tracking Iranian threats against former Trump administration officials for years, dating back to the last administration,&rdquo; National Security Council coordinator Adrienne Watson told the&nbsp;<em>Washington Examiner<\/em> earlier this month. &ldquo;These threats arise from Iran&rsquo;s desire to seek revenge for the killing of Qassem Soleimani.&nbsp;We consider this a national and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-biden-admin-released-a-suspected-terrorist-into-the-united-states-after-he-illegally-crossed-the-border\/\" title=\"The Biden Admin Released A Suspected Terrorist Into The United States After He Illegally Crossed The Border\">homeland security matter<\/a> of the highest priority.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;Justice Department&nbsp;unsealed&nbsp;charges&nbsp;in August 2022 accusing&nbsp;Shahram&nbsp;Poursafi, an Iranian national and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member,&nbsp;of attempting to arrange the murder of former Trump national security adviser John&nbsp;Bolton.<\/p>\n<p>The ODNI characterized Russia as the &ldquo;predominant threat&rdquo; to U.S. elections in a new update provided on Monday.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Moscow continues to use a broad stable of influence actors and tactics and is working to better hide its hand, enhance its reach, and create content that resonates more with U.S. audiences. These actors are seeking to back a presidential candidate in addition to influencing congressional electoral outcomes, undermine public confidence in the electoral process, and exacerbate sociopolitical divisions,&rdquo; the update said.<\/p>\n<p>The update also noted that China does not apparently seek to influence the presidential election, though it is expected to target specific down-ballot candidates it sees as threatening to its core interests.<\/p>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1712785\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1712785\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The intelligence community has determined that Iran is trying to interfere in the 2024 U.S. presidential election to undermine former President Donald Trump, while Russia is supporting his candidacy. In the lead-up to the 2020 election, Iran aimed to diminish Trump&#8217;s chances of reelection, whereas Russia focused on discrediting President Joe Biden, as revealed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in 2021. An ODNI official confirmed on Monday that both countries are repeating their previous actions ahead of this election cycle. The official stated that Iran&#8217;s primary goal is to foster distrust in U.S. political institutions and increase social discord, noting Tehran&#8217;s involvement in influencing the presidential race due to concerns about heightened tensions with the United States if Trump were not elected again. <\/p>\n<p>Iran employs a wide network of online personas for spreading propaganda and misinformation, particularly exacerbating tensions with Israel. In contrast, Russia utilizes influence-for-hire firms\u2014some based within its borders\u2014to sway public opinion in U.S. electoral matters.<\/p>\n<p>When asked which candidate Tehran might favor this time around, an official referred back to assessments from previous elections indicating that Iran had executed a covert influence campaign aimed at undermining Trump&#8217;s reelection prospects without directly promoting his opponents while also attempting to erode public confidence in electoral processes and sow division within American society.<\/p>\n<p>The report further noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had authorized operations intended to damage Biden\u2019s candidacy and support Trump while also undermining trust in elections and deepening sociopolitical rifts within the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>The ODNI confirmed there has been no change in Russia&#8217;s preference regarding candidates for this upcoming election; they are backing Republicans due partly to dissent among GOP members concerning military aid for Ukraine amid ongoing conflict.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran has specifically targeted Trump and members of his national security team involved in a military strike against Iranian General Qassem Soleimani during Trump&#8217;s presidency. Recent intelligence suggested potential plans for an attack against Trump unrelated to an earlier assassination attempt against him this month.<\/p>\n<p>National Security Council coordinator Adrienne Watson emphasized ongoing Iranian threats against former officials as part of their desire for revenge over Soleimani\u2019s death\u2014a matter deemed critical for national security.<\/p>\n<p>In August 2022, charges were unsealed against Shahram Poursafi, an Iranian national linked with attempts on former National Security Adviser John Bolton\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p>In a recent update provided by ODNI on Monday, it was stated that Russia remains a &#8220;predominant threat&#8221; regarding U.S elections through various influence tactics designed to obscure its involvement while aiming at both presidential candidates and congressional races\u2014seeking ultimately to undermine confidence in electoral integrity and deepen societal divisions.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, it was noted that China does not appear interested in influencing the presidential race but may target specific down-ballot candidates perceived as threats to its interests<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2671,"featured_media":2315623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/AP-ali-khamenei-ayatollah-iran.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[18111,3823,4280,3634],"class_list":["post-2315622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-election-meddling","tag-iran","tag-russia","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/AP-ali-khamenei-ayatollah-iran.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2315622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2671"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2315622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2315622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2315622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2315622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2315622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}