White House: Adversaries want to 'tear' Americans apart

U.S. officials have accused Iran of being behind a flurry of threatening but fake emails sent to Democratic voters in multiple battleground states in a late-stage effort to sway public opinion and interfere in the presidential election.

Purportedly from far-right, pro-Trump groups like the Proud Boys, the fake emails were apparently aimed at intimidating voters. John Ratcliffe, the government's national intelligence director, said the aim was to hurt President Donald Trump in the contest against Democrat Joe Biden, though he did not elaborate on how.

National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien told reporters at the White House Thursday, "Our adversaries would love to see the American people at each other's throats."

One possibility is the messages may have been intended to align Trump in the minds of voters with the Proud Boys after he was criticized for failing to unequivocally denounce the group during the first presidential debate.

"These ploys were very sophisticated," O'Brien said. "If they have an e-mail campaign that's targeted at Democrats and supposedly from the Proud Boys or from some group, and then the media comes out and says, oh, look at President Trump supporters are doing this. That's something that definitely damages President Trump. But the Russians and other people do it with the Democrats."

Officials say did not lay out specific evidence for how they came to pinpoint Iran for the threatening emails, but the activities attributed to Tehran would mark a significant escalation for a country some cybersecurity experts regard as a second-rate player in online espionage.

The announcement was made late Wednesday at a hastily called news conference and comes just 13 days before the election.

The allegations underscored the U.S. government's concern about efforts by foreign countries to influence the election by spreading false information meant to suppress voter turnout and undermine American confidence in the vote.

Such direct attempts to sway public opinion are more commonly associated with Moscow, which conducted a covert social media campaign in 2016 aimed at sowing discord and is again interfering this year, but the idea that Iran could be responsible suggested that those tactics have been adopted by other nations, too.

"It's hard for our adversaries because of the decentralized nature of our elections to do anything. But what they can do is try and tear us apart as people," O'Brien said.

Ratcliffe, who, along with FBI Director Christopher Wray, insisted that the U.S. would impose costs on any foreign countries that interfere in the 2020 U.S. election and that the integrity of the vote remains sound.

It would not be the first time that the Trump administration has said Tehran is working against the Republican president.

An intelligence assessment released in August said: "Iran seeks to undermine U.S. democratic institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country in advance of the 2020 elections." It said the country would probably continue to focus on "spreading disinformation on social media and recirculating anti-U.S. content."

A spokesman for Iran's mission to the United Nations, Alireza Miryousefi, denied Tehran had anything to do with the alleged voter intimidation.

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