US intel chiefs unanimous that Russia is targeting 2018 elections

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said Tuesday “there should be no doubt” that Russia sees the 2018 US elections as a target.

Coats and the other top national security officials told the Senate Intelligence Committee that they still view Moscow as a threat to the 2018 elections, a stance that appears at odds with President Donald Trump’s repeated dismissals of Russian election meddling.

“We expect Russia to continue using propaganda, social media, false-flag personas, sympathetic spokesmen and other means to influence, to try to build on its wide range of operations and exacerbate social and political fissures in the United States,” Coats said at a hearing on worldwide threats. “There should be no doubt that Russia perceives its past efforts as successful and views the 2018 US midterm elections as a potential target for Russian influence operations.”

Tuesday’s hearing touched on a wide array of threats, from North Korea to China to weapons of mass destruction. But Russia’s interference into US and other elections loomed large amid the committee’s investigation into Russian election meddling and the Trump campaign’s possible collusion with Russian officials.

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