US Secret Services
USA: Russia pumped large sums into election interference
Has Russia meddled covertly in other countries’ elections? photo
© Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP/dpa
The rumor that Russia interfered in the 2020 US election and supported Donald Trump in the process has been circulating for a long time. The Kremlin is said to have had covert influence in other countries as well.
According to US intelligence services, Russia has poured enormous sums into influencing foreign elections in recent years.
Several US media outlets, including the Washington Post and CNN, reported on Tuesday, citing a senior US official, that Russia had covertly paid more than $300 million to foreign political parties and candidates in more than two dozen since 2014 Paid to countries to influence local politics. This is the result of a new report by the secret services. The government decided to make parts of the investigation public to counteract Russia’s behavior.
Affected countries informed
The countries in question were not mentioned. The countries concerned would be informed. The US official was quoted as saying: “By shining a light on Russian covert political financing and attempts to undermine democratic processes, we make it clear to these foreign parties and candidates that we can and will expose when they covertly accept Russian money.”
Allegation: interference in US election 2020
The United States has long accused Russia of interfering in American elections: According to the US secret services, Russia supported the then US President Donald Trump in the November 2020 presidential election and tried to win over his challenger Joe Biden damage. Russia has focused on disinformation but, unlike the 2016 election, has not attempted to directly undermine US electoral infrastructure. In the 2016 presidential election, the US security authorities were convinced that Russia had intervened in favor of the candidate Trump in order to slow down the Democrat Hillary Clinton.
In recent months, the US government has repeatedly made secret service information about Russia public in order to increase pressure on Moscow – especially with regard to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.