China, Russia, Iran and Cuba all tried to meddle in 2022 US congressional elections, intelligence assessment finds
CNNDec 19, 2023
US Intel Report: Significant Foreign Meddling in 2022 Midterms
The Facts
A 2022 intelligence community report on foreign interference in that year's US midterm elections that was declassified last week didn't find any foreign leaders who ordered a "comprehensive" influence campaign but found that nations, including China, look at interference as a valuable tactic.
The report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) further states that Beijing "tacitly approved efforts to try to influence” several midterm races involving members of both Democrats and Republicans depending on the candidate's attitudes on China policy.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The US must expose what foreign actors are doing because it's in the interest of America's enemies — who stand in defiance of US values and democracy — to shape the minds of US voters. Russia's attempt to brainwash US voters might be successfully weakening US support for Ukraine, and China knows it helps to have some sympathetic members of Congress. Awareness of these programs can help the US government and citizens defend against them.
Establishment-critical narrative
This report is nothing but a psychological operation by US intelligence agencies and politicians to sway public attention away from their failures as elected leaders ahead of the 2024 elections. US lawmakers have historically blamed either Russia or China for meddling in elections, but the only true revelations in this report relate to America's polarizing political divisions, which are really at fault for the nation's problems.
Nerd narrative
There is a 15% chance a state will officially submit results to the Electoral College that are different from the projected winner of that state in the 2024 presidential election, according to the Metaculus prediction community.