FBI, Justice Department hold election security meeting | full video

itself in just a few minutes the task force here will meet to discuss its continuing work in advance of the upcoming election but before we begin I want to address the tragic shooting that occurred this morning at a high school in Winder Georgia we are still gathering information but the FBI and ATF are on the scene working with State local and federal Partners I'm devastated for the families who have been affected by this terrible tra the justice department stands ready to provide any resources or support that the lender Community needs in the days ahead before I get to the work of the task force I also want to announce two major law enforcement actions that the justice department is taking that are separate from the important work of this task force but are part of our broader effort to protect our elections from unlawful interference of any kind first this morning we unsealed an indictment in the southern district of New York of Constantine Kalashnikov and Elena afanasova two Russian based employees of RT a Russian State controlled media outlet they are charged with conspiring to commit moneya laundering and to violate the foreign agents registration act that law enacted nearly a century ago was enacted to ensure that the American people were informed when a foreign power engages in political activities or seeks to influence public discourse the American people are entitled to know when a foreign power is attempting to exploit our country's free exchange of ideas in order to send around its own propaganda the company never disclosed to be I'm sorry and that is what alleged happen in this case in the wake of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 RT which was then known as Russia Today Was dropped by its American Distributors the company ceased its formal operations in the United States and the European Union the UK and Canada banned RT's broadcasting but as RT itself has boasted the government of Russia continued to use RT to direct disinformation propaganda in the wake of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine AR's editor-in-chief said the company had built quote an entire Empire of covert projects designed to shape public opinion in Western audiences we alleg that as part of that effort RT and its employees including the defendants implemented a nearly $10 million scheme to fund and direct a Tennessee based company to publish and disseminate content deemed favorable to the Russian government to implement this scheme the defendants directed the company to contract with us-based social media influencers to share this content on their platforms the subject matter and content of many of the videos published by the company were often consistent with Russia's interest in amplifying US domestic divisions in order to weaken us opposition to core russian interests particularly its ongoing war in Ukraine the company never disclosed to the influencers or to their millions of followers its ties to RT and the Russian government instead the defendants and the company claimed that the company was sponsored by a private investor but that private investor was a fictitious Persona the charges unsealed this morning do not represent the end of the inv instigation it remains active and ongoing in a separate enforcement action the justice department is seizing 32 internet domains that the Russian government and the Russian sponsored actors have used to engage in a covert campaign to interfere and influence the outcome of our country's elections as alleged in our court filings President Vladimir Putin's Inner Circle including including Sergey kov directed Russian public relations companies to promote disinformation and state sponsored narratives as part of a program to influence the 2024 US presidential election an internal planning document created by the Kremlin states that is a goal of the of the campaign is securing Russia's preferred outcome in the election the online infrastructure used by the Russian public relations company known as the social design agency or SDA and related actors included what are sometimes referred to as cyber squatted domains these websites were designed to appear to American readers as if they were major US News sites like the Washington Post or Fox News but in fact they were fake sites they were filled with Russian government propaganda that had been created by the Kremlin to reduce international support for Ukraine bolster pro-russian policies and interests and influence voters in the United States and in other countries internal documents of the Kremlin describe the content as quote bogus stories disguised as newsworthy events close quote this malign influence campaign has been referred to as doppelganger the Russian public relations company drove viewers to these websites by deploying influencers and and paid social media advertisements they also created fake social media profiles posing as US citizens post comments on social media platforms with links to the sites according to sda's records it actively sought to quote eliminate the possibility of detection of the Russian footprint both of the schemes I've just discussed make clear the ends to which the Russian government incl at its highest levels is willing to go to undermine our Democratic process but the enforcement actions I have discussed also make clear that the justice department will aggressively counter such efforts and the same is true of the entire United States government today our colleagues at the state and treasury departments are announcing parallel actions in both of these matters unfortunately we know that Russia is not only foreign power seeking to interfere in our elections as a US intelligence Community noted two weeks ago we have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle that includes recently reported activities by Iran to compromise former president Trump's campaign and to avoid an election outcome that it regards as against its interests those recently reported Iranian activities also include efforts to obtain access to individuals who themselves have access to the presidential campaigns of both political parties the Justice Department's message is clear we have no tolerance for attempts by authoritarian regimes to exploit our demograph our democratic system of government we will be relentlessly aggressive in countering and disrupting attempts by Russia and Iran as well as China or any other foreign malign actor to interfere in our elections and undermine our democracy now I will turn back to the topic of today's meeting just as we are dedicated to combating foreign threats to our elections we are equally dedicated to confront domestic threats against the public servants who administer our elections since the 2020 election we have seen an unprecedent spike in threats against the public servants who do it administer our elections election officials workers and volunteers and communities across the country have been targeted with heinous acts and threats of violence the following are a few examples of successful enforcement actions that the justice department has taken over the past year in New Mexico County Commissioners and other elected officials were targeted with a series of shootings that the department has alleged in court papers were organized by an unsuccessful candidate for the state legislature who claimed that the election had been quote rigged against him at least three of the shootings occurred while the intended victims or their children or their family members were at home in February two Shooters who we alleged were recruited by the candidate pled guilty to carrying out the attacks in March the candidate himself was charged in the 13 count superseding indictment in Arizona a man sent a state election official a bomb threat warning that if she did not resign within two days quote the explosive device impacted in her personal space would be detonated in March the man was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for making that threat in Maricopa County Arizona an elections official a county attorney and their families were threatened by a defendant who called for quote a mass shooting of pole workers and election officials and precincts he believed had quote suspect results his revolting comments included quote dead children burn into the memories of people the county attorney who had been targeted later reported that he his wife and four children had been assigned Round the Clock protection and issued body armor in response to the threat and the elections official who was targeted said in a victim impact statement that quote while I am the person directly threatened by this case the impact of such threats is felt by a much larger Community the thousands of committed election workers who operate our Democratic processes when threats are made against any election worker impact reverberates throughout the entire community that defendant L sense to three and a half years in prison in recent months our enforcement actions have continued in July we s secured the guilty plea of an Alabama man who repeatedly threatened to kill America Maricopa County election workers and officials in one particularly chilling message he said quote you better not come in my church my business or send your kids to my school you are stupid if you think you are safe his senten in is scheduled for next month also in July the justice department secured a 14mon sentence for a man who sent a death threat to a Michigan election worker in a voicemail he said quote 10 million plus Patriots will surround you when you least expect it and he added we'll kill you last less than two weeks ago we charged and arrested a Colorado man for allegedly threatening the lives of election officials judges and law enforcement officials in both Colorado and Arizona as I have said before and I will reiterate again today these cases are a warning if you threaten to harm or kill an election worker or official or a volunteer the justice department will find you and we will hold you accountable in a democracy people vote and argue and debate often loudly in order to achieve the policy outcomes they desire and the justice department will continue to relentlessly protect the rights of all Americans to peacefully Express their opinions beliefs and ideas but the promise of our democracy is that people will not employ violence to achieve their preferred outcomes the public servants who administer our elections must be able to do their jobs without fearing for their lives that is why this task force has been marshalling the full resources of the justice department to aggressively investigate and prosecute threats targeting election workers officials and volunteers and we will continue to do so in the months ahead when the task force will build on the Partnerships with state and local election officials and law enforcement officials task of protecting them since March the task force has participated in more than 25 convenience engaging engagements trainings tabletop EX exercises including both with our law enforcement partners and with our partners in the election Community Nationwide over the next several weeks task force Representatives will be on the ground meeting with election workers and in early November both in advance of and after election day the FBI will be hosting Federal Partners at its headquarters Command Center to address events issues and potential crimes related to the elections in real time election officials and administrators do not need to navigate this threat environment alone we are here to support them and to make sure they can safely carry out their critical work protecting our democracy and protecting our elections was a founding purpose when the justice department was established in 1870 the department answered that charge then and we will answer that charge today as we confront those who would use violence or threats of violence to attack those who administer our elections now like to ask the deputy attorney general to make some remarks thank you very much Mr attorney general and good afternoon everyone I also want to start by expressing my sympathies to the families who have been impacted by yet another horrific Act of gun violence this time in wi Georgia I also want to extend the Department's support for and solidarity with the members of law enforcement and community members who are responding to this tragedy now we are fewer than 65 days out from the election and this convening reflects the diverse and aggressive threat landscape that we face and the breadth of the Department's work that we are doing to combat those threats in our increasingly polarized environment we're seeing continued threats toward election workers those who ensure that we all can exercise our most fundamental of Rights the right to vote and we are identifying dangerous foreign actors working to spawn division Discord and disinformation particularly across social media threats of violence to public officials including election workers represent a clear and present danger to our Democratic process that's why we established the election threats task force to investigate and prosecute the growing number of threats directed at the public servants who make our elections possible dedicated career prosecutors and FBI agents carry out this work across the country every single day working hand in glove with state and local law enforcement in recent months as was just detailed the task force has continued to prosecute threats toward public servants and we will continue working tirelessly with our law enforcement Partners to ensure threat actors answer for their actions because a threat to any election official worker or volunteer is at bottom a threat to our democracy the election threats task force convened today fits into a larger effort by the department to safeguard our elections a critical element of that work includes combating foreign malign influence activity as illustrated by the actions we've announced today our foreign adversaries primary goal is to undermine confidence in our Democratic institutions and values including working covertly to influence and manipulate our elections today's actions is laid out by the Attorney General reaffirm that Russia remains a predominant foreign threat to our elections and as the intelligence Community has publicly reported and as I have previously warned Iran also is accelerating its efforts to influence our elections including the presidential election today's actions reaffirm the Department's ongoing commitment to detect investigate Expose and hold accountable all those who perpetrate foreign malign influence schemes and our work combating and exposing actors affili with Russia Iran or any foreign actor seeking to influence our election will continue day in and day out without fear or favor I'm grateful to the members of law enforcement prosecutors and all the public officials working around the clock to protect our election process and to bring to Justice those who seek to undermine our democracy with that I'll pass it to director re thank you uh to the attorney general the deputy attorney general for bringing the Tas for together again for this meeting uh before I dive into things as you heard FBI agents are on scene in Winder coordinating with and supporting local law enforcement uh our hearts go out to the victims the community and all those affected by this awful awful act uh here with the task force I know this group is busy year round working with our partners especially our brothers and sisters in local and state law enforcement who are often the first line of defense in protecting election workers from violence and threats of violence and as we get closer and closer to election day we're going to continue to step up our Collective efforts to protect those charged with ensuring our elections run smoothly as I've said before election workers many of whom are volunteers and all of whom are public servants are the lifeblood of our elections and we're committed to ensuring that threats directed at election workers reive the Swift and thorough response they deserve of course our commitment to protecting elections and Americans right to vote extends to an even broader array of threats threats the FBI as both a law enforcement and intelligence agency will continue to work 247 to uncover and disrupt that means aggressively combating attempts by Foreign adversaries to undermine confidence in US elections so Discord and damage our Democratic institutions the actions announced today focus on Russia but Russia is by no means the only adversary we've seen try to metal in our society and Democratic processes just last month for instance the FBI working with the broader intelligence community and sisa called out Iran for targeting and attempting to compromise former president Trump's campaign and we continue to keep a close eye on China's efforts to denigrate down ballot candidates it sees as a threat and on their broader efforts to seow Discord whether it's China Iran Russia or any other country attempts to meddle in our elections or destabilize our free and open Society represent a taxs on our democracy and as long as foreign adversaries keep engaging in these hostile influence campaigns they're going to keep running into the FBI today we're exposing two illegal Russian covert influence operations targeting the American public the first was run by RT formerly known as Russia Today now for years the Russian government has used RT to seed and amplify their propaganda narratives around around the world and while RT America suspended its official operations in the US back in early 2022 our investigation revealed that since at least last year RT has used people living and working inside the US to facilitate contracts with American Media figures to create and disseminate Russian propaganda here the content was pitched as legitimate Independent News when and in fact much of it was created in Russia by RT employees who worked for the Russian government the second operation reveals even more malign activities by companies working under the direction and control of the Russian government companies that created media websites to trick Americans into unwittingly consuming Russian propaganda today's announcement exposes those companies and their influence operations operations that relied on AI generated content influencers and paid social media advertisements to drive internet traffic to their sites and Target Americans with disinformation as of noon today we've seized those sites rendered them inoperable and made clear to the world what they are Russian attempts to interfere in our election and influence our society as a lead Agency for investigating threats to us elections the FBI is focused on ensuring that our laws are respected and enforced and when we learn that adversaries overseas are trying to hide who they are and where their propaganda is coming from as part of campaigns to deliberately so Discord we're going to continue to do everything we can to expose their Hidden Hand and disrupt their efforts I'll close by saying thank you again to everyone on the task force for the support you're providing us and for everything you're doing to instill confidence in our elections and ensure they're conducted in a way that is safe and fair and legitimate for the American people thank you sorry that's okay thank you thank you attorney general Garland Deputy Attorney General General Monaco and FBI director Ray for your commitment to safeguarding our elections with your leadership and your support the criminal division's public Integrity section continues to spearhead the election threats task force there is no Mission more critical to the Criminal Division than deterring disrupting and punishing criminal threats to our elections since we last met with Department leadership in May the task force has filed charges or secured convictions against defendants in Arizona Colorado Kentucky and Michigan and opened new investigations across the country the task force is also preparing for election day our attorneys are meeting with election officials around the country and recently hosted a training for FBI and doj Personnel Nationwide to address threats of violence to the election community and other criminal threats to our elections and we are continuing to Surge additional resources to these efforts the public Integrity section has added five attorneys to support its election crimes Branch so that we can rapidly respond to reports of election crimes as we approach election day we will ensure that the team has all the resources it needs to perform its essential work I could not be prouder of the election threats task force as we move forward I am confident that their dedicated efforts will continue to put us in the best position possible to support and protect the election community with that I will turn it over to Assistant Attorney General Matt Olen for the National Security division thanks Nicole thank you Mr attorney general um as you know one of the foremost missions of the National Security division is to protect our elections and our Democratic processes from foreign interference as the American people decide how to exercise their fundamental right to vote in free and fair elections our laws demand that citizens have transparency regarding the origin of messages from foreign sources that transparency empowers individuals to evaluate information and to make informed decisions for themselves we will defend the Integrity of our public discourse against any who would seek to break the law and to exert covert influence regardless of viewpoint or whether that actor is Russia Iran or any other Nation today's charges serve as a reminder that the justice department remains steadfast safeguarding our democracy from foreign interference and protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans thank you and question I have a question for attorney general Garland and director Ray attorney general Garland uh Russia Today sent a statement to Fox News and some other outlets here uh mocking the situation they had five bullet points or six bullet points the first said ha haa haa 2016 wants its cliches back uh in all seriousness there is a subsection of the country that when they hear Russian interference they may believe that it's not true it's not a real thing how do you assure people this is a real situation I'm sure that was much funnier in the original Russian but for us it's not funny this is deadly serious and we are going to treat it accordingly director Ray if I can ask you you've been talking about China for years now and the threat of China um also Iran you both brief briefly mentioned Iran and and potential influence there what is your message directly to the leaders of China and Iran who are watching through that camera lens right now what do you want to say to them over the next few months and Beyond knock it off as long as adversaries keep trying to influence and interfere in our society and our Democratic processes they're going to keep running into the FBI we're going to keep calling it out and I think Nations around the world have started to uh also see the same activity uh it's not the kind of activity we would expect from Nations that want to play in the first world space next question Elana General Garland um I'm wondering if you can talk about what um how the Russian effort to influence the election has changed from prior election Cycles what new strategies are you seeing the Russians deploy this year well I I talk generally about it and I'll turn over to the FBI director and and uh National Security director um um if they want to chime in look it's it's an acceleration of um and it's an increased sophistication of um and it's uh you know use of AI um and cyber techniques that were not available in earlier elections so we're just seeing more and more it's coming faster and faster it's now ai fueled uh they're now using bot farms in a way that was not possible before and therefore it's a bigger threat than it ever was before I would just say that the reality is that Russia has meddled in our society and tried to sew Discord for decades really what we're seeing is just just more tools in the toolbox uh with the Advent of Technology first it was social media which provided a bullhorn and now as you've heard AI is its own amplifier uh and so whether it's shell companies fake personas secret distribution networks the point is not the message itself the point is The Hidden Hand of the Russian government which deceives Americans into thinking that they're getting information from American sources when in fact it's coming from the Russian government Mr attorney general tomorrow is the first Hearing in the January 6 case against the former president since the superseding indictment against him he's called uh these new charges election interference and a violation of the justice department policy against doing something too close to the election how do you respond to that and how confident are you that your team has followed instructions from the Supreme Court following that decision I stand by the actions of the special counsel the superseding indictment is an effort to respond to the direct instructions of the Supreme Court as to how to effectuate a new indictment in an ongoing case the special council is required by the regulations to follow the policies of the justice department including the election sensitivities policies and I'm quite confident that he did so last question Pi um in terms of the Russ interference can you be more specific in terms of is it Beyond Sewing divide of the pushing a particular candidate this election cycle what can you give us a sense about the ultimate goal of these actions um as I said the effort in this case is to affect the preferred outcome in the presidential election the documents that we are un sealing today including the internal Kremlin documents I point you to those to see exactly what's involved more generally the uh Director of National Intelligence test has testified that Russia's um um preferences have not changed from the preceding election thank you everyone [Music] photograph