US Intelligence Agencies: "Putin Interfered in Election with False Information Defaming Biden" (Comprehensive)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] U.S. intelligence agencies revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved an operation last year to support former U.S. President Donald Trump's reelection. Based on this information, the U.S. is expected to impose additional sanctions on Russia soon.

According to the New York Times (NYT) and others, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), which oversees 18 intelligence agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), stated in a declassified report on the 16th (local time) that "Russia exerted multifaceted and covert influence to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election."

Russia approved a broad operation aimed at supporting Trump during last year's U.S. presidential election and disparaging Democratic candidate Joe Biden, with the goal of undermining public trust in the election process and results and exacerbating political and social divisions in the United States.

The report named pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Andriy Derkach, stating that he conducted activities to discredit President Biden on behalf of President Putin. However, it noted that, unlike the 2016 election interference, no evidence was found of any "technical attempts" to interfere with voter registration, vote counting, or tallying processes.

Besides Russia, other adversaries such as Iran and China also attempted to influence the U.S. election. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved various covert operations, including cyber operations, to lower former President Trump's chances of reelection.

However, China did not actually carry out plans to influence the election outcome. The report stated, "China sought stability in its relationship with the United States and judged that no election outcome was favorable enough to risk intervention."

Other governments, including Cuba and Venezuela, also engaged in small-scale activities to interfere in the election. Venezuelan President Nicol?s Maduro was reported to have had "intentions to influence public opinion" targeting his adversary, former President Trump.

The Biden administration is expected to announce sanctions related to Russia's election interference operation next week, CNN reported citing three U.S. State Department officials. Although the officials did not disclose details of the sanctions, they said they would target Russia, China, Iran, and others.

Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence, stated in a press release that "(These attempts by adversaries to interfere in elections) represent an ongoing challenge we face," adding, "These efforts by adversaries aim to deepen divisions and undermine Americans' trust in democratic institutions, and addressing this ongoing challenge requires a whole-of-government approach."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.