WASHINGTON – The Biden administration will announce a series of measures on Wednesday aimed at the Russian government’s efforts to manipulate US public opinion ahead of the November election, two senior officials told NBC News.
Sources said some of the alleged manipulation was carried out through RT, a Russian-backed media network. Anticipated actions include Treasury sanctions and Justice Department enforcement actions. Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to speak publicly about the announcement Wednesday afternoon.
US intelligence agencies have previously assessed that Russia is seeking to interfere in the 2024 election and have labeled RT as a source of Russian propaganda and disinformation and required it to register as a foreign agent.
The editor-in-chief of RT, Margarita Simonyan, “has close ties with high-ranking officials of the Russian government” and has publicly stated that “the Russian government determines the ratings and audience requirements for RT, and since RT receives a budget from the state, it must fulfill its mandates. According to a report released by ODNI in 2017 following Russia’s efforts in the 2016 election.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence It was especially noted in July Russia is trying to influence the US election to undermine support for the Democratic presidential candidate and the American public’s support for arming Ukraine.
It was Russia It was determined that he interfered in the 2016 presidential elections Multiple U.S. investigations, including by a team led by then-special counsel Robert Mueller. Investigations found that the effort was aimed at helping Donald Trump win the election over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in February said NBC’s “Meet the Press” He said the Biden administration had “concerns” about possible Russian interference in the 2024 election cycle.
“It’s not about politics,” Sullivan said. “This is about national security. We are talking about a foreign country, a foreign enemy trying to manipulate the politics and democracy of the United States of America.”
NBC News informed that same month, US officials and cyber experts said Russia was already using bots and fake online accounts to spread disinformation to harm President Joe Biden and other Democratic candidates.
Russian media outlets have also helped spread disinformation about the 2020 election, but their influence has been undermined by former President Trump’s own efforts to undermine the 2020 election.
Trump sought to undermine the 2020 election with allegations of massive voter fraud, culminating in an attack on the US Capitol on January 6.
“Nothing that Russia or Iran or China could say is as wild as what the president said,” said Clint Watts, a former FBI agent who tracks foreign disinformation. told NBC News in 2020. “This time we cannot say that Russia, Iran or China seriously intervened. They don’t need to write fake news this time – we’re making a lot of fake news of our own.”
Shortly after the 2020 election, it became clear that Trump’s claims were false and he lost to President Joe Biden, but Trump — now the 2024 Republican nominee — still hasn’t conceded defeat on Jan. 6, despite what most of the defendants told the courts. they regretted being convincing enough Falling for Trump’s false claims.
Trump is charged with four federal crimes This is especially true of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, with a federal grand jury returning an indictment indicting Trump. deliberately lied Spreading “unsupported, objectively baseless and ever-changing” claims about the 2020 election. Trump said his lawyers would do it plead not guilty on his behalf during a hearing in the case Thursday.
Ryan J. Reilly contributed.