The U.S. intelligence community is closely monitoring foreign influence campaigns as the November elections approach. According to a representative from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the number of these flagged campaigns has increased compared to the 2020 and 2022 elections.
They noted that the uptick is partly due to the heightened attention presidential elections attract from adversaries.
When intelligence is nominated for review, the process typically takes about a week, although urgent cases can be expedited within a day, especially if flagged just before the election. The official highlighted Russia as the primary threat for the upcoming election, with China adopting a “more cautious” stance, and Iran expected to act as a “chaos agent.”
The ODNI operates the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which focuses exclusively on foreign threats and does not investigate domestic campaigns. This center can notify targets of foreign disinformation efforts either publicly or privately, depending on the situation.
The official declined to disclose the number of private warnings issued to candidates, political groups, or local election offices during this cycle. Decisions on public warnings involve Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. To date, only one public warning has been issued, which occurred before the 2020 election when officials warned of Iranian-linked emails intended to intimidate Democratic voters into supporting President Donald Trump.
The ODNI official also cautioned about the risks posed by artificial intelligence and deepfakes, which have become prevalent in recent global elections.
