The US homeland security secretary on Saturday said there are no signs that Russia is targeting this year’s midterm elections with the same “scale or scope” it targeted the 2016 US presidential election.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen spoke at a convention of state secretaries of state, an event that is usually a low-key affair highlighting voter registration, balloting devices and election security issues that do not get much public attention.
However, coming amid fresh allegations into Russia’s attempts to sway the 2016 election, the sessions on election security have a higher level of urgency and interest.
Nielsen said her agency will help state and local election officials prepare their systems for cyberattacks from Russia or elsewhere.
She said US intelligence officials are seeing “persistent Russian efforts using social media, sympathetic spokespeople, and other fronts to sow discord and divisiveness amongst the American people, though not necessarily focused on specific politicians or political campaigns.”
Trump has never condemned Russia over meddling in the 2016 election, despite the findings of all top US intelligence agencies, and the Kremlin has insisted it did not meddle in the US election.
In the past, Trump has reiterated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denials, but last week he said he would bring up the issue when they meet in Finland today.
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