U.S. says Russia, Iran tried interfering in 2020 election

U.S. says Russia, Iran tried interfering in 2020 election

U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday that Russia and Iran have both taken actions to try to interfere with the 2020 presidential election.

Gloria Tso reports.

The U.S. is blaming Iran and Russia for attempts to interfere with the upcoming presidential election.

That's according to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on Wednesday.

U.S. intelligence agencies previously warned that Iran might interfere to hurt Trump, and that Russia was trying to help him in the election.

Ratcliffe described their methods to reporters late in the day.

"We have confirmed that some voter registration information has been obtained by Iran, and separately, by Russia," "We have already seen Iran sending spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and damage president Trump." According to government sources, Ratcliffe was referring to emails sent Wednesday, which were designed to look like they came from the pro-Trump Proud Boys group.

Outside experts say that if Ratcliffe is correct, Iran would be trying to make Trump look bad by calling attention to threats made by the sometimes violent group, as well as their support for the president.

Some of those emails also contained a video supposedly showing how fake ballots could be submitted.

Ratcliffe said that claim was false, and experts have debunked the video.

The emails are under investigation, and one intelligence source said it was still unclear exactly who was behind them.