US says Russia spent millions in secret global political campaign

A senior US official, who like other officials spoke to reporters on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence findings, said the administration decided to declassify some of the review’s findings in an effort to counter Russia’s ability to influence political systems in countries in Europe, Africa and elsewhere.

“By highlighting secret Russian political finance and Russian attempts to undermine democratic processes, we are letting these foreign parties and candidates know that if they secretly accept Russian money, we can and will expose it,” the official said.

Countries where such activities were identified included Albania, Montenegro, Madagascar and possibly Ecuador, according to an administrative source familiar with the matter.

Officials pointed to an Asian country, who declined to be named, as saying that the Russian ambassador had given millions of dollars in cash to a presidential candidate. They said that forces linked to the Kremlin have also used front companies, research centers and other means to influence political events, sometimes for the benefit of far-right groups.

The senior official said the US government saw a slight increase in Russian covert political funding in 2014. The review did not address Russian activities inside the United States.

Ratings by all of us spy agencies and Bipartisan Senate investigation It concluded that Russia under President Vladimir Putin launched a campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential election to aid then-candidate Donald Trump.

Monday Foreign Ministry statement US embassies in more than 100 countries described alleged Russian activities and suggested steps the United States could take to respond, including sanctions and travel bans or the expulsion of Russian spies involved in political finance activities.

The cable, which officials provided to reporters, stated that Russian businessmen it said were involved in what it called “financing schemes,” including Yevgeny Prigozhin and Alexander Babakov. Prigozhin, known as “Putin’s chef” after making huge sums in Russian government catering contracts, was commissioned by US officials in 2018. Attempting to interfere in the 2016 US election. He has been linked to Wagner’s private military company and is wanted by the FBI.

US diplomats brief their counterparts in other countries on activities that US officials believe could bypass the countries and amounts identified.

“We believe this is just the tip of the iceberg,” the senior official said. “So instead of sitting on the sidelines, we’re sharing these response actions.”