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US Counterintel Strategy Emphasizes Protection of Democracy

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - A new counterintelligence strategy released Monday ranks
   fighting foreign influence in U.S. elections and countering the theft
   of research and innovation among the top national security priorities
   over the next two years.

   In focusing on foreign interference in elections, the strategy touches
   on a sensitive subject for President Donald Trump. The president has
   been dismissive of intelligence agencies' findings that Russia
   interfered in the 2016 election and he was impeached by the House after
   multiple officials testified he pressured Ukraine, a critical foreign
   ally, to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.The Senate
   acquitted Trump last week.

   The document from the National Security and Counterintelligence Center
   is meant to guide U.S. intelligence agencies resources and priorities
   through 2022. Similar to the threats identified in a 2018 strategy, the
   document identifies the U.S. economy, infrastructure, democracy and
   supply chains as areas being routinely targeted by foreign governments.

   It comes as U.S. officials warn about foreign influence campaigns from
   Russia aimed at shaping public opinion ahead of the 2020 election and
   about Chinese efforts to pilfer American technology for Beijing's
   economic gain. The report was released hours after the Justice
   Department announced charges against four members of the Chinese
   military, accusing them of stealing the personal information of more
   than 145 million people by hacking into the Equifax credit reporting
   agency.

   The strategy consists of five goals, including protecting critical
   infrastructure like electrical grids, countering foreign hacking and
   intelligence operations, and safeguarding the supply chain so that
   foreign countries can't compromise it with malicious software or
   surveillance technology.

   "The United States is facing increasingly aggressive and complex
   threats from foreign intelligence services, as well as state and
   non-state actors," Bill Evanina, the director of the
   counterintelligence center, wrote in an introduction to the strategy
   document.

   The goals identified by the counterintelligence center line up with
   what Trump administration officials have been publicly discussing in
   recent weeks.

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