Sen. Marco Rubio forewarned Wednesday of foreign adversaries imminently spreading “outlandish” misinformation right before and after voting ends on Election Day next week.
Mr. Rubio, Florida Republican and acting chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, cautioned about fake claims being made in the days ahead, including after the presidential race and others end.
“The bulk of disinformation attacks prepared by our adversaries were designed for the days before & just after Election Day,” Mr. Rubio said on Twitter.
“They may come faster than they can be spotted & called out, so word to the wise, the more outlandish the claim, the likelier it’s foreign influence,” he tweeted.
Voting ends Tuesday, Nov. 3, although election results are likely to be delayed because of factors including the increased use of mail-in ballots due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the U.S. have warned about efforts from countries including China, Russia and Iran to interference with or influence the upcoming elections.
In addition to interfering in the actual elections, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security recently warned of efforts to exploit the time it may take to determine the results of the races.
“Foreign actors and cybercriminals could exploit the time required to certify and announce elections’ results by disseminating disinformation that includes reports of voter suppression, cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure, voter or ballot fraud and other problems intended to convince the public of the elections’ illegitimacy,” the agencies said in an alert last month.
More recently, Mr. Rubio and the leading Democrat on the intelligence committee, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, issued a joint statement warning foreign actors of facing potential consequences.
“Republicans and Democrats are united when we say that continued attempts to sow dissent, cast doubt on election results, or disrupt our election systems and infrastructure will necessitate a severe response,” the senators said last week.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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