年长的国家安全官员们周三提醒美国公众伊朗和俄罗斯他们都在试图干涉2020年美国大选的过程中获得了选民数据选举。
美国国家情报局局长约翰·拉特克利夫在一份声明中说:“这些数据可能被外国行为者用来向登记选民传递虚假信息，他们希望这些信息会引起混乱，制造混乱，并削弱你对美国民主的信心。”惊喜新闻发布会周三晚上。
拉特克利夫还宣布，伊朗是本周被发现发送给民主党选民的一系列威胁电子邮件的单独幕后黑手，他说，这些电子邮件“旨在恐吓选民，煽动社会动荡，损害特朗普总统。”
伊朗驻联合国代表团发言人阿里雷扎·米里尤塞菲(Alireza Miryousefi)向美国广播公司(ABC)否认了这些指控。
“与美国不同，伊朗不干涉其他国家的选举。“世界目睹了美国自己不顾一切地公开质疑自己最高级别选举的结果，”他说这些指控无非是另一种破坏选民对美国选举安全信心的情况，是荒谬的。伊朗无意干涉美国大选，也不希望看到结果。美国必须结束对伊朗的恶毒和危险的指控。"
佛罗里达执法部门和联邦调查局此前曾表示调查威胁邮件据称是从美国境外寄给已登记的民主党人的。据当局称，这些电子邮件声称来自“骄傲男孩”的一名成员，但该组织否认了这一点。
乔·雷德尔/盖蒂影像公司
2020年10月21日，迈阿密，斯蒂芬·克拉克政府中心投票站，选民们正在填写选票。
据布里瓦德县和阿拉卡华县的治安官办公室称，发件人声称属于“alt-right”团体，并表示他们拥有一名选民的个人信息。
布里瓦德县治安官办公室称，这封电子邮件是以选民的名字写的，然后说:“我们掌握了你所有的信息。你现在注册为民主党人，我们知道这一点，因为我们已经进入了整个投票基础设施。你将在选举日投票给特朗普，否则我们会追杀你。”
唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统在第一次总统辩论中引发了争议，在回答关于他是否谴责白人至上主义者的问题时，他告诉“骄傲的男孩”(Proud Boys)“退后，袖手旁观”。许多人认为，这一时刻可能会激发该组织的边缘成员对总统的反对者实施暴力行为。
一名政府高级官员对美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)表示:“伊朗一直是美国政治的精明追随者，并将上次辩论中的‘骄傲的男孩’时刻视为一个机会，可以借此建立一种叙事，将特朗普的支持者描绘成对民主党选民的威胁性暴力。”他对拉特克利夫关于伊朗的行动在一定程度上损害了特朗普的声明作出了回应。
拉特克利夫还指责伊朗散布内容，包括一段暗示个人“可能投出虚假选票，甚至来自海外”的视频
“这个视频和任何关于这种所谓的欺诈性投票的说法都是不真实的，”拉特克利夫说。“这些行动是绝望的对手的绝望企图。即使对手进一步试图恐吓或破坏边境信心，也要知道我们的选举制度是有弹性的，你可以相信你的选票是安全的。”
联邦调查局局长克里斯托弗·雷(Christopher Wray)单独出席了新闻发布会，向美国人保证，该局不会容忍外国干涉美国大选的企图，并将在发现此类活动时酌情提醒美国人民。
雷说:“当我们看到外国干涉或联邦选举犯罪的迹象时，我们将积极调查，并与我们的合作伙伴一起采取适当的行动。”“你应该相信你的投票是有价值的。早期，未经证实的相反主张应该以健康的怀疑态度看待。”
白宫周三晚间做出反应，向前总统巴拉克·奥巴马和总统的竞选对手开枪。
白宫新闻秘书贾德·迪尔在一份声明中说:“与奥巴马-拜登政府不同，特朗普总统已经并将永远把美国放在第一位。”。“他已经指示联邦调查局、DOJ、国防和英特尔机构积极监控和挫败任何干涉美国选举的企图，由于我们执法机构的出色工作，我们阻止了美国对手破坏我们选举的企图。”
chip somodeilla/Getty Images文件
2007年3月9日，美国联邦调查局的印章挂在华盛顿总部的国旗室里
此前，参议院情报委员会主席马尔科·卢比奥和高级成员马克·华纳发表了关于选举安全的联合声明。
声明称:“我们在国外的对手试图制造混乱，削弱选民对我们民主制度的信心，包括我们赖以记录和适当报告选民意愿表达的选举制度和基础设施。”“他们可能试图针对这些系统，或者只是给人留下他们已经改变或操纵了这些系统的印象，以破坏它们的信誉和我们对它们的信心。”
前国土安全部高级官员和美国广播公司新闻撰稿人约翰·科恩说，这一声明表明“我们在保护选举过程方面做得不够。”
科恩说:“今晚我们了解到，外国实体能够获得选民登记信息，并向美国选民发送恐吓电子邮件，旨在影响他们的投票方式。”“总统需要认真对待这一威胁，停止传播俄罗斯的虚假信息，他需要告诉他在国会山的盟友停止追逐阴谋论，而是开始专注于保护美国免受外国攻击。”
Russia, Iran have obtained voter data in election interference campaign: DNI
Seniornational securityofficials alerted the American public Wednesday thatIranandRussiahave both obtained voter data in their efforts to interfere in the 2020 U.S.election.
"This data can be used by foreign actors to attempt to communicate false information to registered voters that they hope will cause confusion, sow chaos, and undermine your confidence in American democracy," Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said in asurprise news conferenceWednesday evening.
Ratcliffe also announced that Iran was separately behind a series of threatening emails that were found to be sent this week to Democratic voters, which he said was "designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and damage President Trump."
Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for the Iranian Mission to the U.N., denied the allegations to ABC News.
"Unlike the U.S., Iran does not interfere in other country's elections. The world has been witnessing U.S.'s own desperate public attempts to question the outcome of its own elections at the highest level," he said. "These accusations are nothing more than another scenario to undermine voter confidence in the security of the U.S. election, and are absurd. Iran has no interest in interfering in the U.S. election and no preference for the outcome. The U.S. must end its malign and dangerous accusations against Iran."
Florida law enforcement and the FBI previously had said they wereinvestigating the threatening emailsallegedly sent from outside the United States to registered Democrats. The emails claimed to be from by a member of the Proud Boys, according to authorities, something the group denies.
Voters fill out their ballots as they vote at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center polling station, Oct. 21, 2020, in Miami.
According to sheriffs' offices in both Brevard County and Alachua County, the sender claimed to belong to the "alt-right" group and said they were in possession of a voter's personal information.
The Brevard County Sheriff's Office said the email addressed the voter by name, then stated: "We are in possession of all your information. You are currently registered as a Democrat and we know this because we have gained access into the entire voting infrastructure. You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you."
President Donald Trump in the first presidential debate stirred controversy when, in response to a question about whether he condemned white supremacists, he told the "Proud Boys" to "stand back and stand by." Many argued the moment could serve to energize fringe members of the group to carry out acts of violence against opponents of the president.
"Iran has been a savvy follower of U.S. politics and saw the 'Proud Boys moment' in the last debate as an opportunity to build a narrative that would cast Trump supporters as threatening violence against Democratic voters," a senior administration official told ABC News, reacting to Ratcliffe's statement that Iran's actions were in part to damage Trump.
Ratcliffe additionally accused Iran of distributing content including a video implying individuals "could cast fraudulent ballots, even from overseas."
"This video and any claims about such allegedly fraudulent ballots are not true," Ratcliffe said. "These actions are desperate attempts by desperate adversaries. Even if the adversaries pursue further attempts to intimidate or attempt to undermine border confidence, know that our election systems are resilient and you can be confident your votes are secure."
FBI Director Christopher Wray separately appeared at the news conference to assure Americans that the bureau will not tolerate attempts at foreign interference in the U.S. election, and would alert the American people when appropriate when it discovers such activity.
"When we see indications of foreign interference or federal election crimes, we are going to aggressively investigate and work with our partners to take appropriate action," Wray said. "You should be confident that your vote counts. Early, unverified claims to the contrary should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism."
The White House reacted late Wednesday, taking a shot at former President Barack Obama and the president's election opponent in the process.
"Unlike the Obama-Biden Administration, President Trump has and will always put America First," White House press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement. "He has directed the FBI, DOJ, and defense and intel agencies to proactively monitor and thwart any attempts to interfere in US elections, and because of the great work of our law enforcement agencies we have stopped an attempt by America’s adversaries to undermine our elections."
The seal of the F.B.I. hangs in the Flag Room at the bureau's headquarters on March 9, 2007, in Washington, D.C.
The announcement followed a joint statement by the Senate Intelligence Committee chairs Marco Rubio and ranking member Mark Warner concerning election security.
"Our adversaries abroad seek to sow chaos and undermine voters' belief in our democratic institutions, including the election systems and infrastructure that we rely on to record and properly report expressions of the voters' will," the statement said. "They may seek to target those systems, or simply leave the impression that they have altered or manipulated those systems, in order to undermine their credibility and our confidence in them."
Former top Department of Homeland Security official and ABC News contributor John Cohen said the announcement shows "we are not doing enough to protect our election process."
"Tonight we have learned that foreign entities were able to access voter registration information and send intimidating emails to American voters that were intended to influence how they vote," Cohen said. "The president needs to take this threat seriously, stop spreading Russian disinformation and he needs to tell his allies on Capitol Hill to stop chasing conspiracy theories and instead start focusing on protecting America from foreign attacks."
