Both Russia and Iran have separately obtained some U.S. voter registration information and are attempting to use it to intimidate voters, the FBI announced in a Wednesday press conference.
FBI Director Christopher Wray made the announcement alongside Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe in an press conference Wednesday evening. Ratcliffe said Iran has already been found to be sending emails using the obtained registration information to intimidate U.S. citizens into not voting.
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe says US has determined Iran and Russia “have taken specific actions to influence public opinion” relating to election.
Says Iran and Russia have obtained voter registration info
Adds intelligence officials caught this early
— Meredith Lee (@meredithllee) October 21, 2020
Wray took the stage following Ratcliffe’s announcement to say the FBI is confident America’s democratic processes remain unmolested, urging voters to ignore and not share any threatening emails they receive regarding voting. (RELATED: China Wants Trump To Lose 2020 Election, Russia Wants Him To Win, US Intelligence Says)
FBI Director WRAY: “You should be confident your vote counts. Early unverified claims to the contrary should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism”
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) October 21, 2020
Wray and Ratcliffe say Russia and Iran were behind recent spoof emails reportedly from the Proud Boys group that sought to threaten voters into voting for Trump.
The announcement comes more than a month after the DNI’s office released a report saying the U.S. was aware that Iran, Russia, and China were all seeking to interfere in the U.S. election for different ends. The announcement at the time said Russia sought to support Trump against Biden while Iran and China preferred Trump to lose.
“We assess that Russia is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former Vice President Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia ‘establishment,’” William Evanina, Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, wrote at the time. “This is consistent with Moscow’s public criticism of him when he was Vice President for his role in the Obama Administration’s policies on Ukraine and its support for the anti-Putin opposition inside Russia.”