China, Russia, Iran and Cuba all tried meddling in 2022 US congressional elections, declassified dossiers show

• A declassified intelligence report found foreign countries stepped up their efforts to interfere in the 2022 midterms compared to 2018
• The intelligence community found strong evidence that China ‘approved efforts to try to influence a handful of midterm races’
• The assessment noted Russia pushed the message that ‘Democrats were stealing the elections’ in an effort to undermine the democratic process

The efforts of foreign countries to meddle in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections appeared to intensify compared to 2018, according to a declassified intelligence assessment.

The assessment, released Monday, cited a ‘diverse and growing group of foreign actors’ including China, Russia, Iran and Cuba.

According to the report, there is strong evidence that China ‘approved efforts to try to influence a handful of midterm races’ involving candidates on both sides of the aisle.

It was likely part of a series of directives by Chinese Communist Party leaders to ‘intensify efforts to influence US policy and public opinion in China’s favor,’ which has been ongoing since 2020, the assessment noted.

China doubled down on its efforts to divide rival parties in the United States, but focused most intently on a few specific candidates, the assessment claimed.

A declassified intelligence report found that foreign actors increased their efforts to interfere in the 2022 midterms compared to 2018 (pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping)

The report referenced a ‘diverse and growing group of foreign actors’ including China and Russia (pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin)

Other countries mentioned were Cuba (left: President Miguel Díaz-Canel) and Iran (right: Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei)

None of the candidates China backed have been named. 

Support for, or in opposition, to candidates was based on whether Beijing thought their policy positions to be in its favor.

The report mentioned that Beijing ‘repeatedly have instructed officials to focus on Congress,’ which was seen as ‘a locus of anti-China activity.’

Intelligence officials believe Beijing saw the midterms as an opportunity to portray American democracy as ‘chaotic, ineffective, and unrepresentative.’

As a result, messaging from the People’s Republic of China was directed to focus on divisions on hot-button issues in the States including abortion and gun control.

The report didn’t look at the impact influence campaigns may have had on the 2022 midterm elections. 

Russia specifically sought ‘to denigrate the Democratic Party before the midterm elections and undermine confidence in the election,’ according to the assessment.

The intelligence community strongly suspected this was an attempt to undermine U.S. support for Ukraine.

As part of these efforts, the Kremlin ‘conducted extensive research and analysis of US audiences,’ identifying demographics and social media platforms that would most effectively amplify Russian propaganda.

Among those targeted audiences were ‘US constituencies that they believed were more sympathetic to Russia’s emphasis on “traditional values,”‘ the report states.

The intelligence community confirmed that Russian military officials proposed to delay their withdrawal from the Ukrainian city of Kherson until the day after the 2022 midterm elections ‘to avoid giving a named US political party a perceived win before the election.’

Russia also sought to weaken confidence in the democratic process by casting doubts on the integrity of the midterm elections, the report concluded.

This included claims that voting software was vulnerable to attacks, Americans expected cheating to impact the elections and the belief that ‘Democrats were stealing the elections.’

According to the assessment, Beijing is thought to have seen the midterms as an opportunity to portray American democracy as ‘chaotic, ineffective and unrepresentative’

The Kremlin identified demographics and social media platforms that would most effectively amplify Russian propaganda, the report says

Broadly, foreign actors shied away from manipulating actual votes in favor of harming the public perception of the validity of elections’ results

The assessment said there was no known order from any leader to ‘undertake a comprehensive, whole-of-government influence campaign’ like Putin’s ‘Project Lakhta’ in 2016

The report detailed Iran’s meddling in the congressional elections, concluding that Tehran sought to exploit perceived social divisions and undermine confidence in democracy.

However, these efforts were limited by competing priorities including the need to manage ongoing unrest and protests in the country.

The intelligence community also observed how countries like Cuba targeted particular candidates based on their willingness to advance policies that aligned with that country’s interest.

Overall, the report found that foreign actors shied away from manipulating actual votes in favor of influencing elections by harming the public perception of the validity of their results.

The findings noted there was no known order from any leader to ‘undertake a comprehensive, whole-of-government influence campaign’ like the Russian effort in 2016. 

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