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US accuses Russia of using state media to spread disinformation ahead of November election

Washington — The Biden administration accused Russia on Wednesday of a far-reaching effort to influence the U.S. presidential election, including by promoting disinformation and enlisting unwitting American influencers to spread propaganda on Russian state media.

The actions taken by the U.S. government include sanctions against leaders of RT, a state media organization that was forced by the Justice Department to register as a foreign agent, as well as visa restrictions.

Intelligence agencies have previously charged that Russia was using disinformation to try to interfere in the election. 

In a speech last month, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Russia was the primary threat to the election, even as Iran raised alarm this summer for a hack of Donald Trump’s campaign and an attempted breach of the then-Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and “his proxies are using increasingly sophisticated techniques in their interference operations. They’re targeting specific voter demographics and swing-state voters to in an effort to manipulate presidential and congressional election outcomes,” she said. “They’re intent on co-opting unwitting Americans on social media to push narratives advancing Russian interests.”

Much of the concern around Russia centers on cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns designed to influence the November vote. The tactics include using state media like RT to advance anti-U.S. messages and content, as well as networks of fake websites and social media accounts that amplify the claims and inject them into American’s online conversations. Typically, these networks seize on polarizing political topics such as immigration, crime or the war in Gaza.

In many cases, Americans may have no idea that the content they see online either originated or was amplified by the Kremlin.

“Russia is taking a whole of government approach to influence the election including the presidential race,” an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said this summer during a briefing. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under rules worked out with that office.

Groups linked to the Kremlin are increasingly hiring marketing and communications firms within Russia to outsource some of the work of creating digital propaganda while also covering their tracks, the officials said during the briefing with reporters.

Two such firms were the subject of new U.S. sanctions announced in March. Authorities say the two Russian companies created fake websites and social media profiles to spread Kremlin disinformation.

The ultimate goal, however, is to get Americans to spread Russian disinformation without questioning its origin. People are far more likely to trust and repost information that they believe is coming from a domestic source, officials said. Fake websites designed to mimic U.S. news outlets and AI-generated social media profiles are just two methods.

Messages left with the Russian Embassy were not immediately returned.
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Trump, Harris campaign on economy, prepare for debate

With just over two months to go before Election Day in the United States, presidential nominees Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are campaigning on the economy and preparing for their first debate. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns looks at the race.
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US seeks to reassure voters that presidential election will be safe

washington — Top U.S. election security officials are asking American voters to tune out the noise and reject what they describe as unfounded claims that the coming presidential election will be rigged. 

Instead, in the first of a series of election security briefings planned in the run-up to November’s election, they say U.S. voters should have confidence that when they go to the polls their votes will be counted accurately. 

“Throughout the next few months, you are going to hear a lot of different things from different sources. The most important thing is to recognize the signal through the noise, the facts from the fiction,” said Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is responsible for election security. 

“Our elections process, election infrastructure has never been more secure, and the election stakeholder community has never been stronger,” Easterly said, briefing reporters Tuesday. “It’s why I have confidence in the integrity of our elections and why the American people should, as well.” 

Easterly’s effort to reassure voters comes a little over a month after the U.S. intelligence community issued its own warning that U.S. adversaries, led by Russia, Iran and China, are seeking to meddle with the November election. 

But those efforts highlighted in the intelligence community warning are spearheaded by influence operations or disinformation campaigns designed to sow doubt about the U.S. election process and to help or hinder certain candidates. 

In contrast, efforts by U.S. adversaries to attack or hack systems used to carry out the election, and tally votes, have so far been nonexistent. 

“We have not seen any intent to interfere in the elections process,” Cait Conley, CISA senior adviser, told reporters.  

And while some of that could be explained by what officials describe as a steady stream of investments in election security infrastructure — including the hiring of more field offices and election security advisers — CISA officials are not taking the lack of malicious activity for granted. 

“That is something that could change at any moment,” Conley said. “When we look at this threat landscape for this election cycle, it truly is arguably the most complex yet.” 

CISA said other efforts to safeguard the upcoming presidential election include a variety of election security exercises, accuracy testing for voting machines, and enhanced security measures to protect election-related computer networks. 

They also emphasize that none of the systems that record votes are connected to the internet and that 97% of U.S. voters will cast ballots in jurisdictions that have paper ballots as back-ups. 

None of that, however, will stop countries such as Russia, Iran and China from trying to convince voters that things are going wrong. 

Easterly said one of the biggest concerns is that U.S adversaries will portray minor hiccups as major scandals. 

“It’s almost inevitable that somewhere across the country someone will forget to bring the keys to unlock the polling location,” she said. “Someone will unplug a printer to plug in a crockpot. A storm may cause a polling site to lose electricity.” 

Cybercriminals might even find a way to temporarily disable what officials describe as election-adjacent systems, including websites for state and local agencies that record and tally votes. 

“We can absolutely expect that our foreign adversaries will remain a persistent threat to attempting to undermine American confidence in our democracy and our institutions and to sow partisan discord,” she said. “It is up to all of us not to let our foreign adversaries be successful.” 

Easterly and Conley said the best way to avoid unnecessary panic is for American voters to rely on state and local election officials for information. 

But if Americans rely on word-of-mouth social media accounts, it could cause trouble. 

“It’s a hard problem for social media companies,” a senior U.S. intelligence official said at a recent briefing, speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues. 

“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] definitely uses influence actors on social media to try to at least stir discord in the United States,” the official said. “So, I would expect that platform to be [used].” 

And there is growing evidence that China may be ramping up its efforts. 

Graphika, a social media analytics firm, issued a report Tuesday warning that a Chinese-linked disinformation operation known as “Spamoflage” has grown increasingly aggressive. 

Graphika said it has identified more than a dozen accounts on platforms including X, formerly known as Twitter, and on TikTok “claiming to be U.S. citizens and/or U.S.-focused peace, human rights, and information integrity advocates frustrated by American politics and the West.” 

“These accounts have seeded and amplified content denigrating Democratic and Republican candidates, sowing doubt in the legitimacy of the U.S. electoral process, and spreading divisive narratives about sensitive social issues,” the Graphika report said, though it added that few of the accounts had managed to gain much traction. 

Graphika’s conclusions seem to be consistent with earlier assessments by Meta, the social media company behind Facebook and Instagram, when it first identified the effort last year. 

“Despite the very large number of accounts and platforms it used, Spamouflage consistently struggled to reach beyond its own [fake] echo chamber,” Meta said at the time. “Only a few instances have been reported when Spamouflage content on Twitter and YouTube was amplified by real-world influencers.” 
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US election campaigns longer than rest of world

U.S. election campaigns are some of the longest in the world. See how they compare to other countries.
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Vehicles in Walz motorcade crash in Milwaukee; he’s unhurt

MILWAUKEE — Some vans at the back of a motorcade carrying Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz crashed on the highway while heading from the airport to a campaign stop in Milwaukee on Monday, but Walz was unhurt. 

President Joe Biden called from Air Force One and spoke to Walz a short time later, as the president was traveling to a separate campaign stop in Pittsburgh with Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris herself was campaigning in Detroit before heading to the joint event later in the day with Biden, and her campaign said that she also spoke with her running mate by phone after the crash. 

The Harris campaign said the crash involved vehicles near the rear of the motorcade. Walz, who is also the governor of Minnesota, was riding closer to the front. Images posted on social media showed large passenger vans with crumpled front and back ends after the collision, which was said to have occurred on Interstate 794. 

Upon arriving at his event, Walz spoke briefly about the crash saying, “Some of my staff and members of the press that were traveling up with us were involved in a traffic accident on the way here today.” 

“We’ve spoken with the staff. I’m relieved to say that with a few minor injuries, everybody’s going to be OK,” Walz said. “President Biden and Vice President Harris called to check in, and we certainly appreciate their concern, and I want to express my sincere thanks to the U.S. Secret Service and all the local first responders for their quick reaction.” 

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the crash, which occurred shortly before 1 p.m. local time. 

A member of the traveling pool staff, who was in a van carrying reporters, had an injured arm and was treated by medics, according to a pool report from a reporter traveling in Walz’s motorcade, who wrote that passengers were “violently thrown forward, as our van slammed into the one in front of us and was hit from behind.” 

Walz and his motorcade stopped at the hospital a few hours after the crash so he could check on staff members who were involved. 

The van carrying the reporters remained pulled over on the side of the road for several minutes afterward. 

Some reporters had scrapes and bruises, and one had a bloody nose. Another feared having suffered a concussion and was initially looking to be taken to urgent care, but eventually climbed aboard a new van to accompany the rest of the press to the event. 

All who wanted to be checked out by paramedics were assessed, according to the pool report. 

The crash occurred after Walz and his wife, Gwen, were greeted at the airport by Democratic Representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin. The trio embraced, chatted and posed for a photo before the motorcade began heading to the event. 

Monday’s campaign stops marking Labor Day were Walz’s first aboard the Harris-Walz campaign charter aircraft. It bears decals of an American flag, the words Harris-Walz, and “A New Way Forward.” 
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US election season is about to start; first ballots go out within days

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US election integrity fears heighten tension ahead of presidential vote

The two major U.S. political parties are expressing concern ahead of November’s election about “election integrity” – meaning the process of registration, the casting of, counting and certifying of votes, as well as adequately addressing any serious issues that arise. More from VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman on Capitol Hill. (Camera: Adam Greenbaum)
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Howard University’s capstone moment: Kamala Harris at top of the ticket

washington — As a young college student, Kamala Harris made the nearly 3-mile trip from Howard University to the National Mall to protest apartheid in South Africa.

In 2017, as a senator, she returned to her alma mater to deliver the commencement address.

In July, when she received word that she would likely be the Democratic presidential nominee, she was wearing her Howard sweatshirt in the vice president’s residence.

Howard, one of the nation’s best known historically Black colleges, has been central to Harris’ origin story, and now, as she seeks to become the first woman elected president, the university is having a capstone moment.

The school has produced luminaries like Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, whose legacy inspired Harris to attend Howard, and author Toni Morrison, among others. Some at the university see Harris’ elevation as vice president as another validation of one of the school’s core missions of service.

“There’s clearly a direct relationship between Howard and its relationship to democracy and the democracy that we envision, one that is practiced in a way that includes all of us,” said Melanie Carter, the founding director of the Howard University Center for HBCU Research, Leadership and Policy.

If Harris won the White House, she would be the first woman elected president and the first graduate of a historically Black college to hold that office. With many HBCUs, like a number of liberal arts colleges, struggling financially, her ascent has bathed Howard in a positive light.

“It empowers students to reach farther than what they thought was possible,” said Nikkya Taliaferro, a senior at Howard University from Honolulu who said the 2024 presidential election will be her first time voting. “Even if she doesn’t win, she’s already made such a big impact and I know for all of us, that alone, is unforgettable.”

To Stefanie Brown James, a Howard alumna and co-founder of The Collective PAC, which is working to increase Black political representation, said that for Howard, the rise of Harris underscores “all the pieces fitting together. At this moment, she is the personification of the leadership, the excellence, the global responsibility to service, that Howard represents.”

In her 2017 commencement address, Harris said Howard taught her to reject false choices and steered her to public service. In her memoir, she wrote that Howard taught that there is an expectation that students and graduates would “use our talents to take on roles of leadership and have an impact on other people, on our country and maybe even on the world.”

Earlier this year, she wrote in a Facebook post that the investment in HBCUs is an investment “in the strength of our nation for years to come,” when she welcomed Howard’s men’s basketball team to the White House as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions. HBCUs have historically struggled to generate investment, despite recent influxes in funding and donations, causing them to flounder financially.

Democratic Representative Summer Lee, a Howard Law graduate, said Howard’s “each one, teach one camaraderie” shaped how many alums in politics tackle the job.

“It allowed us to root for each other in ways that I would not have gotten at another institution,” Lee said. “Those guidelines of being a social engineer, not being on the sidelines, and creating public policy, that’s rooted in the experiences of the most marginalized people. That is a Howard trait.”

The Howard network is also providing some financial and organizational support to Harris’ campaign. The Collective PAC utilized its HU Bison PAC, which held a virtual call for graduates with more than 4,000 attendees and raised over $150,000, according to James. The Bison PAC plans another call Wednesday.

On campus, a group called Herd for Harris is campaigning to support her. Other student-led organizations are mobilizing students to register to vote and be engaged around presidential debates and policies that could most affect them.

“It was instantaneous and that’s just Howard,” James said. “Something’s happening, we need to respond to it, so we get to work. It’s simply a Howard thing.”

Even though Harris enjoys broad support on campus, there are students who are challenging Harris over policy, notably the war in Gaza.

“What we expect of Kamala Harris in this election is really derived from the morals that Howard instilled in us, that we are an oppressed people, and that we also need to advocate for oppressed people abroad,” said Courtney McClain, a student senator at Howard who met Harris in 2020. She said she plans to support Harris, while holding her accountable.

With the November election drawing near, Harris has been on extensive campaign travel and prepping for her first debate against Republican Donald Trump — including a mock session at Howard — on Sept. 10. Still, she made time to speak to the crowd of Howard’s largest incoming first-year class in front of Cramton Auditorium.

Using a bullhorn, she told them that she was proud of them and urged that they enjoy this moment.

“You might be running for the president of the United States,” she said to roaring cheers.
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Harris looks to Biden for boost in Pennsylvania as they attend Labor Day parade

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Harris criticizes Trump for Arlington Cemetery incident; some Gold Star families defend his visit

Some Gold Star families expressed support Sunday for former President Donald Trump, after his campaign was criticized for taking photos and videos at a restricted section of Arlington National Cemetery last week. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is also in the race for the White House, added her voice to those condemning Trump’s visit and deemed it “a political stunt.” VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the story.
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Judge blocks Ohio law banning foreign nationals’ donations to ballot campaigns

Columbus, Ohio — A federal judge has blocked a new law banning foreign nationals and green card holders from contributing to state ballot campaigns in Ohio on the grounds that it curtails constitutionally protected free speech rights.

U.S. District Judge Michael Watson wrote Saturday that while the government has an interest in preventing foreign influence on state ballot issues, the law as written falls short of that goal and instead harms the First Amendment rights of lawful permanent residents.

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed the measure June 2, and it was to have taken effect Sunday. A prominent Democratic law firm filed suit — saying noncitizens would be threatened with investigation, criminal prosecution, and mandatory fines — if they even indicate they intend to engage in any election-related spending or contributions.

Watson said lawful permanent residents can serve in the military and, depending on age, must register for selective service. Thus, the judge said, it would be “absurd” to allow or compel such people “to fight and die for this country” while barring them “from making incidental expenditures for a yard-sign that expresses a view on state or local politics.”

“Where is the danger of people beholden to foreign interests higher than in the U.S. military? Nowhere,” he wrote. “So, if the U.S. Federal Government trusts (such residents) to put U.S. interests first in the military (of all places), how could this Court hold that it does not trust them to promote U.S. interests in their political spending? It cannot.”

Not only is the speech of lawful resident foreign nationals constitutionally protected, but so is the right of U.S. citizens “to hear those foreign nationals’ political speech,” Watson said. Seeking a narrow solution without changing the statute from the bench, he said he was barring officials from pursuing civil or criminal liability for alleged violations of Ohio law based on the definition of a “foreign national.”

Statehouse Republicans championed the ban after voters decisively rejected their positions on ballot measures last year, including protecting abortion access in the state Constitution, turning back a bid to make it harder to pass future constitutional amendments, and legalizing recreational marijuana. Political committees involved in the former two efforts took money from entities that had received donations from Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss. However, any direct path from Wyss to the Ohio campaigns is untraceable under campaign finance laws left unaddressed in the Ohio law. Wyss lives in Wyoming.

John Fortney, a spokesperson for Republican Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, argued that the filing of the lawsuit proves that Democrats are reliant on the donations of wealthy foreign nationals and accused the progressive left of an “un-American sellout to foreign influence.”

A decision to include green card holders in the ban was made on the House floor, against the advice of the chamber’s No. 3 Republican, state Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati attorney. Seitz cited a U.S. Supreme Court opinion suggesting that extending such prohibitions to green card holders “would raise substantial questions” of constitutionality.

The suit was filed on behalf of OPAWL – Building AAPI Feminist Leadership, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, a German citizen and her husband who live in Cleveland and a Canadian citizen who lives in Silver Lake, a suburb of Kent. OPAWL is an organization of Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander women and nonbinary people in Ohio. The lawsuit also argued that the law violated the 14th Amendment rights of the plaintiffs, but the judge said he wasn’t addressing their equal protection arguments since they were likely to prevail on the First Amendment arguments.
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Trump issues statement from Gold Star families defending Arlington Cemetery visit and ripping Harris  

ATLANTA — Donald Trump’s campaign issued a statement Sunday from the Gold Star military families who invited him to Arlington National Cemetery as they defended the Republican presidential nominee and insisted that Vice President Kamala Harris is the candidate politicizing fallen U.S. service members. 

It’s the latest volley in an extended back and forth as Trump tries to saddle Harris with the Biden administration’s handling of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, including a suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members. 

Harris on Saturday accused Trump of staging a “political stunt” that “disrespected sacred ground” where many Afghanistan war dead are buried. Trump and the families of some of those killed in the bombing blame Harris, as they did President Joe Biden before he ended his reelection bid, for their loved ones’ deaths. The families say the former president was honoring their loved ones when he came to Arlington. 

His campaign later distributed images of the visit despite the cemetery’s prohibition on partisan activity on the grounds. 

“President Trump was invited by us, the Gold Star families, to attend the solemn ceremonies commemorating the three-year anniversary of our children’s deaths,” said the relatives’ joint statement. “He was there to honor their sacrifice, yet Vice President Harris has disgracefully twisted this sacred moment into a political ploy.” 

Gold Star families have lost a loved one in military service. 

Trump laid wreaths last Monday in honor of Sgt. Nicole Gee, Staff Sgt. Darin Hoover and Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss. They were among 13 U.S. service members and more than 100 Afghans who died in an Aug. 26, 2021, bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport as U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan. 

Trump thanked the family members for their statement via social media. “Thank you for saying you wanted me to stand with you … and take pictures, that it was your request, not mine,” he wrote. 

Throughout the weekend, Trump has used his social media accounts to distribute video testimonials from some relatives who signed the statement. 

Christy Shamblin, Gee’s mother-in-law, said in a 90-second message that Trump and his aides were “respectful” and a “a comfort” to the families who gathered at Arlington. Then she directly addressed her remarks to Harris. 

“Why won’t you return a call and explain how you call my daughter-in-law’s death a success?” Shamblin said. “Why would you take a day where we celebrated the deaths of our loved ones and use it to disparage not only them, but us.” 

Biden and first lady Jill Biden went to Dover Air Force Base in 2021 for the ceremony returning the service members’ remains to U.S. soil. The Bidens met privately with family members at Dover. The Bidens were joined at the ceremony by several top aides in the administration, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

Shamblin was among the several family members who also spoke at the Republican National Convention in July on Trump’s behalf. Several family members have joined Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, on a conference call with media. 

Trump’s appearance ballooned into controversy after defense officials said his campaign was warned about not taking photographs and that there was an altercation between Trump aides and a cemetery employee. Officials have said since that an employee whom two Trump campaign staff members allegedly “verbally abused and pushed” aside has declined to press charges. 

The Trump campaign has since lashed out at Pentagon officials, with a top campaign adviser, Chris LaCivita, referring to military spokespersons as “hacks.” Trump campaign officials say the campaign had permission to bring someone to take video. 

Since Biden ended his reelection bid in July, Trump has been zeroing in on Harris and her roles in foreign policy decisions. He has highlighted the vice president’s statements that she was the last person in the room before Biden made the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. 

Biden’s administration was following a withdrawal commitment and timeline that the Trump administration had negotiated with the Taliban in 2020. A 2022 review by a government-appointed special investigator concluded decisions made by both Trump and Biden were the key factors leading to the rapid collapse of Afghanistan’s military and the Taliban takeover. 

Campaigning this year, Trump has said that leaving was the right thing to do but that the Biden administration’s execution was poor. 

“We were going to do it with dignity and strength,” he said in a recent speech in Michigan. 
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Harris’ record in California praised, ridiculed, in US presidential campaign

U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris is from one of America’s most politically liberal states — California. Her work as a local prosecutor, the state’s attorney general and U.S. senator is central to Harris’ presidential campaign. Her opponent, Donald Trump, says that Harris’ record in California shows she is too liberal for the rest of America. From Los Angeles, Genia Dulot tells us what Californians are saying.
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Harris calls on Trump to debate with mics ‘on the whole time’

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee in the November 5 U.S. presidential election, on Saturday called on her Republican rival, Donald Trump, to debate her with their microphones switched on throughout the event.

Harris and the former president have agreed to a debate, hosted by ABC News, on September 10.

“Donald Trump is surrendering to his advisors who won’t allow him to debate with a live microphone. If his own team doesn’t have confidence in him, the American people definitely can’t,” Harris said in a post on social media platform X.

“We are running for President of the United States. Let’s debate in a transparent way with the microphones on the whole time.”

Trump has said that he preferred to have his microphone kept on and that he did not like it muted during the last debate against then-contender President Joe Biden.

So-called “hot mics” can help or hurt political candidates, catching off-hand comments that sometimes were not meant for the public. Muted microphones also prevent the debaters from interrupting their opponent.

A representative for ABC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The debate would be the first time Harris and Trump face off since Biden dropped out of the presidential race following a poor performance at a CNN debate in June that raised doubts about his mental acuity.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance have agreed to an October 1 debate on CBS News.
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