The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned Americans late Wednesday at an unusual press conference that it has identified efforts by Iran and Russia to interfere in the presidential elections.
National intelligence director John Ratcliffe said both Iran and Russia
obtained US voter registration information
in an effort to interfere in the November 3 election.
Ratcliffe spoke alongside FBI Director Chris Wray.
"This data can be used by foreign actors to try to communicate false information to registered voters that they
hope will cause confusion, wreak havoc and undermine their confidence in American democracy
," Ratcliffe said.
The federal agency said Iran has posed as the far-right group Proud Boys, akin to President Trump, to send intimidating emails to voters.
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Democratic voters in at least four pendulum states, including Florida and Pennsylvania, have received threatening emails warning them that they would be "hunted down" if the recipients did not vote for Trump.
The emails were
forged
with the intention of harming the president and creating social unrest, according to the FBI.
[Intelligence officials warn of Russian interference in the 2020 elections to favor Trump]
In the case of
Russia, the European country has not taken the same actions as Iran, the FBI said, but it has obtained information from voters
, as it also happened in the 2016 elections.
The FBI warning comes just 13 days before the election.
Mass sending of emails
According to the FBI, the information obtained by Iran and Russia was not limited to voters' emails, but also includes party
affiliation and address, as well as phone numbers.
FBI Director Chris Wray said there is no way for Iranian or Russian intelligence to change the votes of Americans either way.
"You can trust that your votes
are safe
," Wray said.
When asked about these emails during an online forum Wednesday, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said she lacked specific information.
"I am aware that voters were sent out in various electorally contested states and we are working closely with the attorney general on these kinds of things and more," he said.
Bennett Ragan, campaign manager for Florida House candidate Kayser Enneking, said he received two of the emails and knew 10 other people in Gainesville who also received them.
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Bennett claimed that the address listed in the personalized email he received was not up to date, so he calculates that the data they obtained must be from the 2018 primary election census of voters.
A Google spokesperson assured our sister network NBC News that the mechanism that filters spam for users of its Gmail email service
detected 90%
of those sent to US voters by actors linked to Iran.
The company indicated that in total it detected
25,000 emails
.
Iran, Russia and China and the spread of disinformation
"We are prepared for the possibility of actions by those who are hostile to democracy," Ratcliffe said at the press conference.
He added: "These actions are the desperate actions of desperate adversaries."
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US election officials have repeatedly stated that the measures it has taken before the 2020 election in response to Russia's interference in the 2016 election
will make this the safest in modern history
.
On August 7, the main electoral security official of the United States intelligence community, Bill Evanina, said in an unprecedented statement that together with Russia and China, Iran is one of three foreign adversaries seeking to interfere in the race to the White House in 2020.
[How to vote by mail and register in each state]
"We assess that Iran seeks to undermine the democratic institutions of the United States, President Trump, and divide the country before the 2020 elections.
Iran's efforts in this regard will likely focus on online influence, such as the
spread of disinformation on social media and the recirculation of anti-American content
, "read the statement, issued on behalf of the entire intelligence community.
"Tehran's motivation to carry out such activities is, in part, driven by the perception that the re-election of President Trump would result in a continuation of US pressure on Iran in an effort to encourage regime change," added.
Alireza Miryousefi, spokesperson for the Iranian Mission to the UN,
denied
that the country had taken any action to influence the US elections.
"Unlike the United States, Iran does not interfere in the elections of other countries," he said in a statement Wednesday night.
"The world has witnessed the desperate public attempts of the United States to question the outcome of its own elections at the highest level. These accusations are but another scenario to undermine the confidence of voters in the security of American elections and they are absurd, "he added.
With information from NBC News.
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