Senior Justice Department official warns of “onslaught” of foreign election interference from Russia, Iran and China

Just 33 days before the election, a senior Justice Department official is warning of an “onset of foreign election interference” from Russia, Iran and China.

Matthew Olsen, head of the department’s national security division, said in an interview with CBS News that the U.S. is facing a multi-pronged offensive by the three nations. Lines of attack include a barrage of propaganda from Russia to sow division in a highly polarized U.S. electorate, persistent cyberIntervention in the campaigns of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris and a “grave” Iranian assassination plot against Trump.

“They view this as a time of vulnerability for us,” Olsen told CBS Evening News anchor and editor-in-chief Norah O’Donnell. “They are looking for ways they can change the outcome of our election or for issues that will divide us in ways that serve their national interests at the expense of our interests.”

Olsen’s comments are expected to be the Justice Department’s final word on election interference, reflecting its policy of refraining from public statements in the 30 days before an election to avoid influencing the outcome.

In a wide-ranging interview, he called the threats “sophisticated” and used advanced technology “to target our politics.”

In Russia, malicious actors are using artificial intelligence to produce content, such as fake videos of the vice president, intended to spread disinformation. Additionally, he said, Moscow has upped its game in another way — by laundering Kremlin talking points through U.S.-based social media influencers with large online followings. Olsen described Russia’s brazen attempt to help Trump win the election.

“What we are seeing with Russia is clearly a preferred outcome,” Olsen said. “Russia tried to promote the candidacy of the former president and denigrate the candidacy of the vice president.”

Contrary to messaging from the Trump campaign, which has consistently denied reports of Kremlin interference, Olsen said the Russian initiative was real in 2016 and is even more robust now.

“Russian interference in the [2016] The election was no joke. It actually happened then. “It’s actually happening now,” Olsen said. “There is no doubt about that.”

Olsen said the intelligence community and law enforcement learned a lesson from 2016, when officials were highly protective of the intelligence community, suggesting the Russians were aggressively interfering in the election. This cycle they have made a conscious decision to be far more transparent with the public.

“We learned at the Justice Department, but this is especially true in the intelligence community, and that means being as open and transparent as possible about the nature of the threat,” Olsen said.

In September, the Justice Department reportedly seized 32 Internet domains Russia used it as part of its “Doppelgänger” online campaigns Olsen called the case an example of how the ministry is working to “dismantle the infrastructure” of the Russian propaganda operation.

The seizure targeted Russian companies, including the Social Design Agency (SDA), which since 2022 has allegedly been responsible for developing a propaganda strategy that includes imitating legitimate news companies such as Fox News or the Washington Post.

“They created these fake websites. They look very real,” Olsen said. “It is difficult for the average American to understand the complexity of these efforts. But that’s why we try to be as transparent as possible about the nature of the threat.”

Olsen pointed to a specific Justice Department case in which “talking points” were uncovered by people “at the highest levels of the Kremlin, by people inside.” [Vladimir Putin’s] “inner circle” who have declared their goal is for Trump to win.

Olsen said that in addition to its goal of boosting Trump’s campaign, Russia is also heavily focused on sowing division among American voters on hot-button issues. Chief among these is the war in Ukraine, where Moscow aims to weaken U.S. popular support for Ukrainian independence.

However, Olsen said the Russians also view domestic issues as suitable targets for their disinformation campaign. He pointed to immigration, one of the most contentious political fights in the 2024 election. The Russians, he said, “emphasize immigration as a wedge issue.”

Russia is not the only country looking to “sow discord” in the run-up to the elections. Among the Justice Department’s biggest concerns, Olsen said, is credible evidence that Iran wants to “compromise” Trump’s campaign and is actively planning to assassinate Trump, which he said is being watched “closely.”

“Among the countries of the world, there are few countries that represent the scale and significance of the threats that Iran does,” Olsen said, noting that these efforts are linked to the death of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, at the hands of an American Air strike killed in 2020. “They are determined to take revenge for Soleimani’s assassination. And they have targeted U.S. officials who they believe are responsible for this decision.”

In recent months there have been two assassination attempts on former President Trump and, in another case, on a Pakistani citizen with ties to Iran was charged with allegedly conspiring to commit a murder-for-hire They are targeting current and former U.S. officials – a list that CBS News told sources familiar with the investigation may have included Trump.

Olsen declined to comment on whether the government’s lawsuit opposes it Ryan Wesley Routh, He was accused of trying to assassinate the former president at his golf course in Florida in September. He has some ties to a foreign government and cited the ongoing nature of the case. Routh has pleaded not guilty.

Last month, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence briefed Trump on “real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him.”

As for China, while the volume of activity is lower than that of Iran and Russia, their interest in the upcoming elections appears to be more focused on congressional and state office races, where they aim to find candidates who are “more “aligned with” could be “China’s interests” and not the presidential election.

Olsen said he has not seen any foreign attempts to manipulate voting machines or other election infrastructure. But one of his biggest concerns is what will happen after the election, especially given the likely delays in determining the election results.

“I do believe that our opponents will continue to see this period as an opportunity to influence the outcome of the election or sow discord in the country,” Olsen said, warning: “That’s really the biggest problem I see right now.”