A covert campaign before the midterms

Two senior Democrats on the congressional intelligence committees told reporters on Wednesday, 21 October, that Russia has launched a covert online influence campaign ahead of the November midterms. Mark Warner, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the findings appear in a classified report on foreign election interference that the US intelligence community sent to their offices in the days before 21 October. The pair had requested an election security briefing from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, and they said they could not disclose its details because the material is classified. Both men are Democrats. Himes described the Russian digital effort in blunt terms.

“It's a carnival out there.”

What the operation aims to do

According to Himes, the operations are meant to create chaos and anarchy, and they range from undermining trust in US institutions to questioning whether voting machines can be relied on. Politico reports that the campaign is designed to weaken both Democrats and Republicans who support Ukraine, while other accounts of the briefing focus on Democratic candidates. Warner said the report suggests Moscow is using artificial intelligence tools to spread these narratives faster and to target Americans more effectively. He framed the pattern in broader terms, saying that Russia has spread disinformation working against Democrats in every election cycle since 2016.

“And the state of play, I would argue, is that, you know, Russia, similar to prior occasions, is going after Democrats.”

Warner and Himes said the campaign uses the same kind of online misinformation that the US intelligence community tracked in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 elections. Politico recalls that in 2016 Russian intelligence officers were linked to hacking attacks on the Democratic National Committee and on email accounts of Hillary Clinton's campaign staff.

Targeted candidates and fake ads

Warner pointed to news reports that James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Texas, and Senator Jon Ossoff, who is seeking re-election in Georgia, are being singled out by fake advertisements made with artificial intelligence. The Democrats said they were concerned that Donald Trump could try to challenge the election results by pointing to foreign hacking of voting infrastructure. Himes said the material cannot be detailed publicly, but he called Moscow's conduct the same as it has always been. He also said there was no reason to believe that China had not been conducting extremely targeted efforts to influence voters, as it has done in the past.

“The Russians are kind of throwing everything out there.”

Midterm backdrop and polling

Voting in the midterm elections began on 20 October and runs until 3 November. The statements come as Trump has eased economic sanctions on Russia and increased pressure on Ukraine to end its fight against Russian forces. An Ipsos poll for the Washington Post and ABC News, published on 19 October, put Trump's approval at 33%, which Oko.press describes as a record low for the president. Reuters/Ipsos polling has shown Democrats leading Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, boosting Democratic hopes of regaining the House and possibly the Senate.

Responses and denials

The White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Russian embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Moscow has denied meddling in US elections in the past, and Beijing has also previously denied interfering. The Chinese Embassy in Washington called Himes's comment a false allegation and a serious smear that has long been proved unfounded.