Donald Trump’s China focus cuts efforts to monitor Russian meddling

U.S. intelligence and national security agencies face a new obstacle in protecting this year's election: An effort by President Donald Trump and some of his top appointees to downplay the threat posed by Russia while inflating the danger from China, according to officials.

Top political appointees -- including Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Robert 0'Brien, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Attorney General William Barr -- have suggested in recent weeks that China is the bigger election threat even though intelligence assessments don't confirm that assertion.

At the same time, the administration has restricted the flow of intelligence information to the public. It scrapped an annual open hearing on top threats to the U.S. and said it would provide only written briefings to lawmakers. The Department of Homeland Security's former intelligence chief filed a whistle-blower complaint, made public last week, saying he was told to focus on China and Iran instead of Russian election interference that “made the president look bad.” The department denied the claims.


Cybersecurity experts point to recent Russian meddling attempts with alarm. “Multiple cyber espionage actors have targeted organizations associated with the upcoming election, but we remain most concerned by Russian military intelligence, who we believe poses the greatest threat to the democratic process,” said John Hultquist, senior director of analysis at the Mandiant unit of cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc.

Privately, national security officials say they're clear-eyed about the threats from Russia, China and other adversaries, and offer a far more nuanced picture about election security than is being given by Trump's appointees. An intelligence assessment released last month didn't assert that China is the bigger election threat.

Russia is more aggressive when it comes to actively trying to disrupt and interfere in the Nov. 3 election and sow discord in America, officials said, while China is conducting hacking, social media and influence operations in order to collect intelligence, advance its version of events and gain a long-term advantage over the U.S.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.