Washington – FBI Director Wray Says Russia Continues To Sow Discord In US

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    FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2017, file photo, FBI Director Chris Wray speaks at his installation ceremony at the FBI Building in Washington. Washington – FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday that Russia continues to use fake news, propaganda and covert operations to “spin up” Americans on both sides of hot-button issues to sow discord in the United States.

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    Wray stood behind the intelligence agencies’ assessment that Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election, dismissing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that his country was not involved.

    “He’s got his view. I can tell you what my view is,” Wray said at the opening event of the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. “The intelligence community’s view has not changed. My view has not changed.”

    Wray spoke after a day of controversy in Washington over whether President Donald Trump accepts the intelligence agencies’ assessment and whether he believes Moscow is continuing to try to influence American elections or threaten the nation’s infrastructure.

    Wray also dismissed Putin’s offer to allow the U.S. access to 12 Russian military intelligence officers who have been indicted on charges of interfering in the election in return for being able to interview Americans the Kremlin has accused of unspecified crimes.

    The White House said it was under consideration. Wray dismissed the offer.

    “I never want to say never about anything,” Wray said, “but it’s certainly not high on our list of investigative techniques.”

    Much of the conversation with Wray, which was moderated by NBC’s Lester Holt, focused on Russia.

    “Russia continues to engage in foreign influence operations to this day,” Wray said.

    He said that while U.S. officials have not yet seen an effort by Russia to target specific election systems, it is aggressively engaged in influence operations to sow discord and divisiveness in America. “To me, it’s a threat that we need to take very serious and respond to with fierce determination,” Wray said.

    He said the Russians identify divisive issues, and through covert and overt operations, fake news and propaganda, they “spin people up on both sides of an issue and then kind of watch us go after each other.”

    Russia isn’t the only country threatening the U.S., Wray said.

    He said he thinks China, from a counterintelligence perspective, represents the broadest and most significant threat America faces. China wants to replace the United States as the most powerful economic engine in the world and is infiltrating American businesses to get an edge.

    “We have economic espionage investigations in all 50 states” that can be traced back to China, Wray said. “It covers everything from corn seeds in Iowa to wind turbines in Massachusetts and everything in between.

    “The volume of it. The pervasiveness of it. The significance of it is something that I think this country cannot underestimate.”


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    14 Comments
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    AlbertEinstein
    AlbertEinstein
    5 years ago

    “Russia Continues To Sow Discord In US “

    hashomer is leading the charge. I think hashomer and his friends are Russian trolls.

    5 years ago

    Can they point us to a specific ad or material that is currently popular that is spreading fake news ? Like in what way are they doing this and who is Beng affected ? Show me the material please

    And I know people right away think if a law enforcement Trump supporter says this how can I label it as fake ? Here is the answer . Law enforcement has to have extreme vigilance and they need to be fearful . Does anyone recall the post 9/11 era ? For a while we had different code statuses . We were often labeled as the highest unsafe code ( I think it was code red but not sure ) where we really at that highest level looking back ? No way . But firstly there were some low level losers looking to score points with al qeda and seeking attacks albiet nothing as planned out as 9/11 . We do need to worry about low level Russians or copy cats. Secondly , it’s natrual human reaction to be extra fearful after a huge life event .

    Key point , bec AP has a quote from a law enforcement official , it doesn’t convince me that under these hyper times it’s really a concern . It’s not fake news it’s hyper news

    5 years ago

    The obvious problem is that these statements are re-written by the media to give misleading impressions. As example, at the end there is a point that China “represents the broadest and most significant threat America faces”. So shouldn’t China be the headline and usurp the major discussion with Russia being relegated to a side-issue?

    puppydogs
    puppydogs
    5 years ago

    The FBI was led by Commey and Strozk, need I say more?

    Vvvvv
    Vvvvv
    5 years ago

    Huge poll results today show Americans couldn’t care less about all this Russia nonsense (1% Do). It’s just being used by dems to bash Trump over the head with…