Security News > 2020 > February > Report: U.S. Struggled to Counter 2016 Election Interference

In the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election, the Obama administration struggled to respond to Russia's efforts to interfere with the voting process due, in part, to internal debates over concerns about confusing the public, according to a new U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report.

The report released Thursday, "U.S. Government Response to Russian Activities," is the third volume based on the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation into the 2016 election and how Russia sought to interfere in the U.S. voting process.

The previous two reports focused on how Russia targeted election systems and infrastructure in all 50 states before the 2016 presidential election and its efforts to manipulate social media and spread disinformation.

The new report found that not only was the U.S. government unprepared to counter the type of interference and disinformation that Russian hackers and trolls used to attempt to manipulate public opinion, but that the Russian efforts continued even when the Obama White House warned Russia's leadership to stop.

After the Intelligence Committee's report was released Thursday, the senators who investigated the interference and wrote the report offered different perspectives.

News URL

https://www.inforisktoday.com/report-us-struggled-to-counter-2016-election-interference-a-13698