The United States plans to unveil indictments on Wednesday that accuse Russia of trying to influence the election in November by using its state-run media to push divisive messages and misinformation, according to U.S. officials.
The indictments are part of a larger federal effort to push back on the Kremlin’s effort to influence the vote. The Treasury Department is set to announce a set of sanctions on Wednesday, and the State Department is set to announce new actions against Russians involved in election influence efforts.
U.S. officials have been stepping up their warnings about Russian election influence efforts. American spy agencies have assessed that the Kremlin favors former President Donald J. Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in the November contest, seeing him as more skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine.
The Justice Department and the F.B.I. have been investigating a handful of Americans accused of knowingly spreading false Kremlin narratives. But officials have emphasized they are not aiming to curb free speech. Americans who merely repeat or spread stories they see on Russian state media are not being investigated as part of the efforts, officials said.
The United States has said that Russian intelligence agencies have been using RT, the state-owned broadcaster, to spread disinformation through bots and other efforts. U.S. officials have been looking more closely at how the Kremlin and its spy agencies use RT to influence the election.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland is holding a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force on Wednesday and is expected to announce the indictments and detail the government’s latest efforts to halt Russian interference. Other officials, including Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, and Matthew G. Olsen, the head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, will be in attendance.
The United States was caught flat-footed in 2016 as its spy agencies learned about Russian efforts to influence the vote on behalf of Mr. Trump and were late in warning the public. In subsequent elections, U.S. intelligence officials were more aggressive at quickly calling out Russian, Chinese and Iranian efforts to influence American elections.
But officials say that fighting election interference has been more difficult this year. Some Americans, particularly Mr. Trump’s supporters, see accusations that Russia is spreading disinformation as efforts to undermine their views and policy positions.
The United States has taken some action against Russian organizations it believes are trying to influence American politics. In March, the Treasury Department sanctioned a Russian group that has aided efforts to create fake news sites that spread misinformation.
Much of that misinformation campaign was aimed at derailing military funding for Ukraine as Congress wrestled with a contentious vote this year.
The war in Ukraine has made the U.S. election one of the most pivotal for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. While Ms. Harris is expected to continue the Biden administration’s vigorous support for Ukraine, Mr. Trump has pledged to end the war quickly, forcing the parties into negotiations. His vice-presidential nominee, JD Vance, has spoken disparagingly about providing funding for Ukraine.
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