,,ii #aahth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #ecfe ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,november #ba1 #bjbd,mr4 ,sullivan introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations ,a ,,bill ,to require the ,president to notify ,congress and take certain actions in response to any attempt by a country of concern to affect ,united ,states elections4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,stop ,adversaries ,meddling in ,american ,elections ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,on ,november #h1 #bjbd1 the ,department of ,justice unsealed a charge involving an ,iranian plot to kill ,president-elect ,donald ,trump in the leadup to the election4 ,a criminal complaint filed in ,federal court in ,manhattan alleges that an unnamed official in ,iran's paramilitary ,revolutionary ,guard instructed a contact to put together a plan to surveil and ultimately kill ,donald ,j4 ,trump4 7#b7 ,on ,november #e1 #bjbd1 the ,new ,york ,times reported that the ,cybersecurity and ,infrastructure ,security ,agency1 the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation1 and intelligence agencies issued a warning that adversaries1 led by ,russia1 were conducting additional influence operations4 ,central ,intelligence ,agency officials called out a video circulating on ,november #e that falsely claimed the spy agency had uncovered cases of fraud in which dead people had voted4 ,another disinformation campaign targeted the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation1 prompting the ,bureau to say its name and logo were being used to spread election falsehoods4 7#c7 ,on ,november #e1 #bjbd1 ,reuters reported that according to the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation1 hoax bomb threats1 many of which appeared to originate from ,russian e-mail domains1 were directed on ,tuesday at polling locations in #e battleground ,states1 including ,georgia1 ,michigan1 ,arizona1 ,wisconsin1 and ,pennsylvania1 as election day voting was underway4 7#d7 ,on ,november #a1 #bjbd1 the ,new ,york ,times reported ,united ,states intelligence agencies have concluded that ,russia was behind #b new fabricated videos that appeared on social media this week falsely claiming that ,haitians illegally voted in ,georgia and that ,vice ,president ,kamala ,harris and her husband received a #ejj1jjj bribe from the performer ,sean ,combs4 7#e7 ,on ,november #b1 #bjbd1 the ,washington ,post reported that the ,china-linked hack of at least #c major ,united ,states telecommunications providers targeted high-level figures in the presidential campaign4 ,officials have said that information related to ,federal requests for wiretaps was targeted1 as well as telephones used by former ,president ,donald ,trump1 ,senator ,,jd ,vance1 campaign workers in both the ,kamala ,harris and ,trump campaigns1 and members of ,president ,trump's family4 ,it is being reported as the first time ,beijing is known to have targeted presidential election candidates directly4 7#f7 ,on ,october #bi1 #bjbd1 the ,new ,york ,times reported ,disinformation from abroad--particularly from ,russia1 ,china and ,iran--has matured into a consistent and pernicious threat4 ,they note the following #e key trends3 7,a7 ,a broad expansion of disinformation across a multiplicity of social media outlets4 7,b7 ,the content is far more targeted to specific demographics4 7,c7 ,artificial intelligence is propelling this evolution4 7,d7 ,it is becoming much harder to identify disinformation4 7,e7 ,technology companies are not doing as much to stop disinformation4 7#g7 ,on ,october #be1 #bjbd1 the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation and officials from the ,office of the ,director of ,national ,intelligence and the ,cybersecurity and ,infrastructure ,security ,agency issued a statement indicating ,russian actors manufactured and amplified a recent viral video that falsely showed a person tearing up ballots in ,pennsylvania4 ,they added this ,russian activity is part of ,moscow's broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the ,,us election and stoke divisions among ,americans1 the agencies said in a statement4 7#h7 ,on ,october #be1 #bjbd1 investigators on background told ,united ,states media ,the ,chinese hackers who burrowed into the networks of ,u4,s4 telecommunications firms have used their deep access to target the phones of former ,president ,donald ,trump1 his running mate1 ,,jd ,vance1 and people affiliated with ,vice ,president ,kamala ,harris's presidential campaign1 according to people familiar with the matter4 7#i7 ,separately on ,october #be1 #bjbd1 the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation confirmed it was investigating unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by ,chinese actors4 ,the statement was the first formal acknowledgment by the ,united ,states ,government about the massive breach4 ,after the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation identified specific malicious activity targeting the sector1 the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation and the ,cybersecurity and ,infrastructure ,security ,agency issued a statement and notified affected companies1 rendered technical assistance1 and rapidly shared information to assist other potential victims4 7#aj7 ,an ,october #bc1 #bjbd1 ,microsoft ,threat ,analysis ,center report revealed ,chinese influence operations targeted a handful of ,republican candidates and congressional members who advocate for anti-,chinese policies4 7#aa7 ,on ,october #bb1 #bjbd1 ,united ,states intelligence officials on ,tuesday said ,russians seeking to disrupt the ,united ,states elections created a faked video and other material smearing ,democratic vice-presidential nominee ,tim ,walz with abuse allegations and are considering fomenting violence during and after the vote4 7#ab7 ,on ,september #be1 #bjbd1 the ,wall ,street ,journal reported that hackers linked to the ,chinese government have broken into a handful of ,united ,states internet-service providers in recent months in pursuit of sensitive information1 according to people familiar with the matter4 ,the hacking campaign1 called ,salt ,typhoon by investigators1 hasn't previously been publicly disclosed and is the latest in a series of incursions that ,united ,states investigators have linked to ,china in recent years4 7#ac7 ,a ,september #bjbd ,office of the ,director of ,national ,intelligence conference call about foreign election interference efforts stated propagandists in ,china1 ,iran1 and ,russia are using artificial intelligence to create content designed to deceive ,americans about the presidential election4 7#ad7 ,in ,april #bjbd1 ,secretary of ,state ,anthony ,blinken told ,,cnn that ,china was attempting to influence and interfere in the ,united ,states election despite ,president ,xi previously giving assurances to ,president ,biden that it would not do so4 7#ae7 ,in an ,april #bjbd1 ,new ,york ,times article1 ,united ,states officials claimed covert ,chinese accounts are promoting conspiracy theories1 stoking domestic divisions1 and attacking ,president ,biden ahead of the election in ,november1 according to researchers and government officials4 7#af7 ,researchers at the ,institute for ,strategic ,dialogue connected ,china's online interference to a long-running network of accounts connected with the ,chinese government known as ,spamouflage4 7#ag7 ,an ,october #bjbd ,office of the ,director of ,national ,intelligence report warned that the ,united ,states intelligence community expected foreign influence actors to ''' call into question the validity of the election's results after the polls close4 7#ah7 ,the ,october #bjbd ,office of the ,director of ,national ,intelligence report stated that foreign actors are almost certainly considering the possibility of another contested presidential election and a tight contest for control of both the ,senate and the ,house of ,representatives4 7#ai7 ,the ,october #bjbd ,office of the ,director of ,national ,intelligence report stated that foreign actors will likely take advantage of such an opportunity to use similar tactics in a post-election period to undermine trust in the integrity of the election1 election processes1 and further exacerbate divisions among ,americans4 7#bj7 ,an ,october #bjbd ,new ,york ,times article quoted a ,biden administration official who stated foreign powers realize ''' they can spread messages that suggest the process was flawed4 ,officials said they called such efforts 8perception hacking4 7#ba7 ,a ,february #bjbd ,office of the ,director of ,national ,intelligence ,threat ,assessment states3 ,the ,,prc aims to sow doubts about ,u4,s4 leadership1 undermine democracy1 and extend ,beijing's influence ''' due to its desire to sideline critics of ,china and magnify ,u4,s4 societal divisions4 ,,prc actors have increased their capabilities to conduct covert influence operations and disseminate disinformation4 7#bb7 ,a ,december #bjbb ,national ,intelligence ,council report states ,china tacitly approved efforts to try to influence a handful of #bjbb midterm races involving members of both ,u4,s4 political parties40 ,the assessment adds with high confidence that ,china's goals are to counter ,u4,s4 politicians viewed as anti-,china and to support others viewed as pro-,china4 7#bc7 ,cybersecurity firm ,mandiant alleged ,chinese interference in the #bjbb ,united ,states midterm elections via ,,dragonbridge1 an influence campaign assessed to be operating in support of the political interests of the ,people's ,republic of ,china4 7#bd7 ,a ,november #bjbc memo by the ,select ,committee on the ,chinese ,communist ,party outlines ,china's united front work1 described as a unique blend of engagement1 influence activities1 and intelligence operations that the ,,ccp uses to shape its political environment1 including to influence other countries' policy toward the ,,prc and to gain access to advanced foreign technology4 7#be7 ,in ,april #bjbc1 the ,united ,states ,attorney's ,office for the ,eastern ,district of ,new ,york charged #dd ,chinese nationals for conducting online disinformation campaigns that promoted ,,prc propaganda and for attempting to intimidate and silence ,,prc critics4 7#bf7 ,an ,october #bjbd ,office of the ,director of ,national ,intelligence report states ,russia is leveraging a wide range of influence actors in an effort to influence congressional races and in particular to encourage the ,u4,s4 public to oppose pro-,ukraine policies and politicians4 7#bg7 ,in ,september #bjbd1 the ,biden administration announced a broad effort to counter ,russia's influence campaigns in the #bjbd election1 including through sanctions1 indictments1 and seizing of web domains that ,united ,states officials say the ,kremlin uses to spread propaganda and disinformation4 7#bh7 ,a nearly #cjj-page ,,fbi affidavit lays out a broad1 ,kremlin-backed effort to seed fake news stories to attack ,united ,states politicians supporting ,ukraine in the war against ,russia and stoke tensions in ,united ,states society4 7#bi7 ,in ,september #bjbd1 the ,state ,department announced forthcoming designations of #e ,russian state-funded news outlets1 including ,,rt1 ,ruptly and ,sputnik1 as foreign government missions and restrict the issuance of visas to people working for ,kremlin-supported media institutions4 7#cj7 ,in a ,september #bjbd report1 the ,foundation for the ,defense of ,democracies identified #ai websites that ,iran has used to spread disinformation through what appear to be ,american and foreign news outlets4 7#ca7 ,in ,august #bjbd1 the ,,fbi and ,united ,states intelligence agencies stated the ,iranian government was behind a hack and leak operation targeting ,donald ,trump's presidential campaign and also attempted to target the ,biden-,harris campaign4 7#cb7 ,the dictators running these countries of concern would never stand for free1 fair1 and open elections themselves because they fear their own people and prioritize their power over them above all else4 #c4 ,requiring the ,president to notify ,congress and take certain actions in response to any attempt by a country of concern to affect ,united ,states elections 7a7 ,in general ,if the ,president determines that the government1 or an individual acting on behalf of the government1 of a country of concern is attempting to affect the outcome of any ,federal1 ,state1 or local election through the dissemination of disinformation1 the ,president shall-- 7#a7 not later than #cj days after making such determination1 notify the appropriate committees of ,congress of-- 7,a7 such attempt2 and 7,b7 any actions the ,president intends to take under paragraph 7#b71 including any waiver of the disclosure of information described in such paragraph under subsection 7b72 and 7#b7 subject to subsections 7b7 and 7c71 take action1 including through international media and media available in the country of concern in question1 or through any other means available to the ,united ,states1 to reveal any information the ,united ,states ,government has in its possession relating to any unexplained wealth1 corruption1 or malfeasance of any senior official of the government in question1 their family members1 or the political party or parties which govern it1 to as many of the citizens as possible in such country of concern4 7b7 ,waiver of disclosure ,the ,president may waive the disclosure of information under subsection 7a77#b7 if the ,president determines that the disclosure of such information would be detrimental to the national interest4 ,in the case where the ,president waives such disclosure1 the ,president shall submit to the appropriate committees of ,congress an explanation of why the disclosure of such information would be detrimental to the national interest4 7c7 ,treatment of classified information ,the release or disclosure of classified information under subsection 7a77#b7 shall be subject to the standards and procedures established under ,executive ,order #acebf 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #cafa note2 relating to classified national security information74 7d7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,appropriate committees of congress ,the term appropriate committees of ,congress means-- 7,a7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations of the ,senate2 7,b7 the ,select ,committee on ,intelligence of the ,senate2 7,c7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs of the ,house of ,representatives2 and 7,d7 the ,permanent ,select ,committee on ,intelligence of the ,house of ,representatives4 7#b7 ,country of concern ,the term country of concern has the meaning given to the term covered nation in section #dhgb7;d77#b7 of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code4 7#c7 ,disinformation ,the term disinformation means any false information or depiction that is deliberately meant to mislead4