ZCZC
BFF-33
US-RUSSIA-ELECTION
US intelligence chief pins blame for strive to influence 2018 election
on Russia
WASHINGTON, Dec 22, 2018(BSS/TASS)- Director of the US National Intelligence Dan Coats has blamed Russia, China and Iran for seeking to influence November’s midterm congressional elections to promote their strategic interests, The Hill newspaper wrote on Friday.
“Russia and other actors like China and Iran conducted influence activities and messaging campaigns targeted at the United States to promote their strategic interests,” Coats said in a statement that was released as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence submitted its assessment of any foreign interference in the midterm elections, the paper says.
However, the intelligence community did not find any signs indicating “any compromise of our nation’s election infrastructure that would have prevented voting, changed vote counts, or disrupted the ability to tally votes,” according to Coats.
The report is now under consideration by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. The FBI, as well as the intelligence committees of the US Senate and House of Representatives, have been pursuing a probe into Russia’s alleged interference into the 2016 US presidential election.
Former FBI Chief Robert Mueller is Special Counsel investigating the so-called Russian interference. On November 6, the midterm election was held in the US.
The voting resulted in the re-election of 35 out of 100 senators, all 435 members of the US House of Representatives, 39 governors of states and territories, as well as 6,073 members of legislatives assemblies in states, judges and members of school district councils.
After the election, the Democratic Party strengthened its majority in the Senate, and the Republican Party gained control over the House of Representatives for the first time in eight year
BSS/TASS/AU/16:40 hrs