| | In that executive order President Trump declared a national emergency and the 2020 presidential election was conducted under this state of emergency. The order states that people and organizations located, in part, outside the [[United States]] are known to be able to, {{quotebox|“interfere in or undermine public confidence in United States elections, including through the unauthorized accessing of [[election]] and campaign infrastructure or the covert distribution of [[propaganda]] and [[disinformation]].” The EO further states that this foreign interference in U.S. elections, “constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the [[national security]] and [[foreign policy]] of the United States.”}} | | In that executive order President Trump declared a national emergency and the 2020 presidential election was conducted under this state of emergency. The order states that people and organizations located, in part, outside the [[United States]] are known to be able to, {{quotebox|“interfere in or undermine public confidence in United States elections, including through the unauthorized accessing of [[election]] and campaign infrastructure or the covert distribution of [[propaganda]] and [[disinformation]].” The EO further states that this foreign interference in U.S. elections, “constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the [[national security]] and [[foreign policy]] of the United States.”}} |
| | + | ...While the tools of malign influence have proliferated, foreign governments such as Russia and China have also become more sophisticated and more bold. Back in 1986, the FBI told Congress that Soviet active measures had relatively little success in the United States because they were “often transparent and sometimes clumsily implemented.” Forged government documents, for instance, could be exposed. But the arsenal of modern malign influence — like impersonating Americans on social media platforms, or manipulating digital content through “deep fakes” — can be more difficult to detect and counter. ... |
| | + | As to boldness, as the [[Christopher Wray|FBI Director]] has recently pointed out, the [[PRC]] has been “engaged in a highly sophisticated malign foreign influence campaign,” using bribery, blackmail, and other malign tactics to influence our year-round policymaking, which certainly has implications for our elections. [[Beijing]]’s corrupt methods are not always as blatant as its [[Chinagate|illegal campaign financing was in 1996]]; PRC tactics are more subtly pernicious and complex. Beijing, for example, works relentlessly to co-opt seemingly independent middlemen who can influence members of Congress on a host of policies.... |
| | Between May 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020 the Chinese Communist Party paid $1,027,254.12 to the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', Bay Area Production Services, LLC (San Francisco), ''The Seattle Times'', ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', Walton Press, Inc. (Atlanta), FNP Printing & Publishing (Washington D.C.), Stellar Printing, Inc. (New York City), ''The Houston Chronicle'', ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', Hawaii Hochi Ltd. and Sun Sentinel Company (Miami) to print the ''China Daily'' newspaper in the United States.<ref>https://erbn.online/1009</ref> | | Between May 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020 the Chinese Communist Party paid $1,027,254.12 to the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', Bay Area Production Services, LLC (San Francisco), ''The Seattle Times'', ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', Walton Press, Inc. (Atlanta), FNP Printing & Publishing (Washington D.C.), Stellar Printing, Inc. (New York City), ''The Houston Chronicle'', ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', Hawaii Hochi Ltd. and Sun Sentinel Company (Miami) to print the ''China Daily'' newspaper in the United States.<ref>https://erbn.online/1009</ref> |