Foreign influence over the US Congress is much wider than previously thought, and China is behind most of the campaigns. This was stated by the director of US national intelligence John Ratcliffe in closed meetings with members of Congress, reports The Hill on October 9, citing sources.
Ratcliffe said the threat of foreign influence from the “usual suspects” — China, Russia, and Iran — is growing. At the same time, the “main aggressor” in Beijing.
Between 10 and 50 members of Congress, he said, have experienced foreign influence campaigns. He did not specify who it was about.
In addition, The Hill quoted an intelligence official as saying that China has six times as many operations to influence members of Congress as Russia and 12 times as many as Iran.
Recall that since 2016, the United States has regularly accused Russia of interfering in elections. Moscow denies this. At the same time, US Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller found no evidence that Russia interfered in the American elections.
