American intelligence services accused Russia on Monday evening of being “actively” involved in disinformation operations in the country’s seven key states which must determine the outcome of the presidential election on Tuesday.
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These seven so-called pivotal states (Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin) hold the key to the indirect universal suffrage vote through which Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump will access the White House.
“Russia is the most active threat” in these American states, accused the Federal Police (FBI), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in a joint statement. (CISA).
“These attempts risk inciting violence, including against electoral officials,” these services are alarmed.
“Swing states,” which can swing to one side or the other, are already the target of allegations by Republicans of “cheating” and “fraud” allegedly carried out by Democrats.
According to the ODNI, a video recently circulated on social networks with an interview with a person claiming that fraud with false ballots and alterations of electoral rolls was to favor Kamala Harris in Arizona.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes called the video “completely bogus” and his state, considered a bastion of election conspiracy, took steps to protect its poll workers and voting operations.
His counterpart in Georgia (southeast), Brad Raffensperger, reported Thursday “a video purporting to show a Haitian immigrant possessing several Georgia ID cards and claiming to have voted several times.”
The FBI, ODNI and CISA had confirmed that “Russian agents of influence had fabricated” this video.
Moscow denounced on Saturday these “baseless allegations” and “all insinuations about “Russian machinations” (as) malicious slander.”
This is not the first time during this American presidential campaign that Washington has accused Moscow, but also Tehran, of engaging in disinformation operations on social networks in order to provoke unrest.
As during Donald Trump’s victorious campaign in 2016, Russia denied any destabilizing activity on the internet and assured “to respect the will of the American people”.
