State Department Confirms Texting Russians, Iranians for US Election Interference Info

By Mary Anne R. First Posted: Aug 08, 2020 12:17 AM EDT

The State Department confirmed on Friday that it was sending text messages to Russians and Iranians, offering a multi-million-dollar bounty for information on foreign efforts to meddle in the U.S. elections.

A State Department spokesperson said in an email that the messages were intended to promote international awareness of the issue and the reward.

"The U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program is advertising a reward offer through SMS messages and a variety of other communications tools and techniques. Our SMS messages refer back to the verified official Rewards for Justice social media accounts, which are available in multiple languages," the spokesperson was quoted in a report.

The spokesperson added that the United States is ready to respond to foreign threats with consequences to defend the upcoming elections.

The department first announced on Thursday that it would give a $10 million reward to anyone with knowledge on foreign governments' efforts to cause and interference on the upcoming elections through cyber operations.

The department is asking people who have information to come forward, saying that hacking operations to interfere with elections violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

In the departments notice, it said that the ability of persons or foreign efforts to undermine the national elections in the U.S. causes a threat to the national security and foreign policy of the country.

U.S. Election Interference

The director of U.S. counterintelligence said in a BBC report that foreign states are using "covert and overt influence measures" to change the vote of the public.

It added that those foreign nations have a choice on who wins the election.

U.S. intelligence officials said Russia meddled in the 2016 election to help President Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

Russia denied these allegations.

Trump was asked what he would do about the report on U.S. election interference. He said that his administration would look closely into it.

The claims on interference on the election came about when Trump announced the risks of mail-in ballots.

He suggested to delay the election to avoid fraud and inaccurate account. Trump was criticized for this, even among the members of his own party.

Democratic lawmakers also complained that U.S. intelligence agencies are not releasing information about foreign interference in this year's election.

William Evanina, head of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center released a statement on Friday, saying that foreign states trying to meddle with the elections' results will find it difficult to "manipulate voting results at scale."

Foreign Countries Preference

Evanina said many countries have their own choice for who wins the election. He said they were more "primarily concerned" about China, Russia, and Iran.

Evanina said Russia is aiming to decry Joe Biden's candidacy. Some actors connected to Russia are also aiming to boost Trump's candidacy through social media and Russian television.

The counterintelligence department also said that Iran is trying to divide the country and spread disinformation and anti-U.S. content online.

The department also said China does not want Trump to win the election and has been expanding its influence efforts.