Russian interference in the 2018 United States elections

[1] The leaders of intelligence agencies have noted that Russia is spreading disinformation through fake social media accounts in order to divide American society and foster anti-Americanism.

[4] In February 2018 Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats claimed during a congressional testimony that "the United States is under attack" from Russian authorities.

[5] As of February 13, 2018, six U.S. intelligence agencies unanimously assessed that Russian hackers are scanning American electoral systems and using bot armies to promote partisan causes on social media.

[9] During a press conference in the White House on March 6, 2018, President Trump was questioned on the topic of possible interference in the upcoming midterm election, responding “We won’t allow that to happen.

We’re doing a very, very deep study, and we’re coming out with, I think, some very strong suggestions on the ’18 election," adding, “we’ll counteract whatever they do.”[10][11] The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) discovers that the email accounts of four senior officials have been hacked and monitored for months by a probable foreign agent.

Love said that the WalkAway social media campaign, originally created by New York resident Brandon Straka, had been co-opted by Russian bots in an attempt to discourage Democrats from voting in the mid-term elections, citing Hamilton 68.

[22] On July 31, Facebook announced they had detected and removed 32 pages and fake accounts being used for "coordinated inauthentic behavior," and was "working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other intelligence agencies".

On December 4, Politico reports that the email accounts of four senior officials at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) were hacked and monitored for months by a probable foreign agent.

Russia, and other foreign countries, including China and Iran, conducted influence activities and messaging campaigns targeted at the United States to promote their strategic interests.