(REUTERS): US Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe has accused both Iran and Russia to obtain American voter registration data in order to interfere with the 2020 presidential election.
The announcement, two weeks before the presidential election, showed the level of alarm among top US officials that foreign actors were seeking to undermine Americans’ confidence in the integrity of the vote.
Addressing a press conference along with FBI Director Chris Wray, John Ratcliffe said, “We have confirmed that some voter registration information has been obtained by Iran, and separately, by Russia.”
Ratcliffe said that the government officials have already seen Iran sending spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and damage President Trump. “Iran used the information to send threatening, faked emails to voters,” he added.
“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,” Ratcliffe said.
Intelligence agencies had collected information that Iran planned to take more steps to influence the vote in coming days. A spokesperson for Iran’s mission to the United Nations denied the claims.
Spokesperson Alireza Miryousefi said, “Iran has no interest in interfering in the US election and no preference for the outcome.” Meanwhile, US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he disagreed with Ratcliffe that Iran was specifically trying to hurt Trump.
“It was clear to me that the intent of Iran in this case and Russia in many more cases is to basically undermine confidence in our elections. This action I do not believe was aimed […] at discrediting President Trump,” Schumer said in an interview.
