The United States is to accuse Russia of a sustained campaign to interfere in the November presidential election, US media has reported.
The Biden administration is expected to address the Kremlin’s efforts to influence public opinion with a series of actions including criminal charges, according to CBS, the BBC’s partner in the US.
The Russian state media network RT – formerly Russia Today – would be a major focus, according to CNN.
Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to announce sanctions and charges on Wednesday, CBS said.
US officials warn that a growing number of foreign adversaries have attempted to interfere with its elections since Russia’s efforts in 2016.
In June, a group of hackers linked to the Iranian government successfully breached Donald Trump’s campaign and leaked internal documents.
A month later, the Department of Justice announced the seizure of two domain names and the search of nearly 1,000 social media accounts operated by Russian actors to “create an AI-enhanced social media bot farm that spread disinformation”.
Researchers have also uncovered a growing Chinese influence operation aimed at infiltrating and swaying US political conversations on social media.
Xi Jinping, China’s president, pledged his country would not interfere in the US election during a summit with President Joe Biden last November.
Jen Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said on Tuesday that the US could “absolutely expect… foreign adversaries” to try to “undermine American confidence in our democracy… and sow partisan discord”.
““And that’s why it is up to all of us not to let our foreign adversaries be successful.”
Eight years ago, Russia conducted a sophisticated campaign that involved hacking the Democratic National Committee and leaking stolen documents to Wikileaks with the intent of hurting Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Many Democrats argue the operation helped contribute to Trump’s eventual victory that November.
US politicians and intelligence officials have since concluded that the operation was directly ordered by Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president.
Twelve Russian military intelligence officers were charged in 2018 with orchestrating the effort, and federal warrants were issued for their arrest.
