Senior Trump administration officials from eight federal agencies issued a joint statement Monday urging Super Tuesday voters to be vigilant of “foreign actors” attempting to exert influence during primary season.
The statement released Monday — which includes Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Attorney General William Barr, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and FBI director Chris Wray — said that “we continue to work with all 50 states, U.S. territories, local officials, political parties, and private sector partners to keep elections free from foreign interference.”
The administration officials said that voters must remain aware that “foreign actors continue to try to influence public sentiment and shape voter perceptions.”
“They spread false information and propaganda about political processes and candidates on social media in hopes to cause confusion and create doubt in our system,” the officials wrote in the statement. “We remain alert and ready to respond to any efforts to disrupt the 2020 elections. We continue to make it clear to foreign actors that any effort to undermine our democratic processes will be met with sharp consequences.”
After officials asserted in the statement that the “level of coordination and communication between the federal government and state, local, and private sector partners is stronger than it’s ever been,” they wrote that “voters have a role to play too” in countering foreign influence and that a “well-informed and vigilant republic is the best defense against disinformation.”
Read the joint statement here.
