WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2018) President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that instructs Federal authorities to assess election meddling and impose sanctions on foreigners who interfere in US voting, National Security Adviser John Bolton said in a conference call on Wednesday.
"The executive order requires the Director of National Intelligence to be conducting regular assessments about potential foreign interference in the election. It asks for reports by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security in the case of interference with election or campaign related infrastructure," Bolton said.
The executive order describes a process whereby the Department of State and the Department of the Treasury would decide on appropriate sanctions to recommend and impose on countries or actors that engage in interference.
Bolton said sanctions for meddling in US elections may include blocking assets, export license restriction, limiting access to US financial institutions, restraints on foreign exchange transactions or transfers as well as prohibitions on US citizens investing in companies involved in meddling.
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said the Intelligence Community would be given a 45-day period of time after voting to assess whether any type of manipulation or influence affected an election outcome.
The Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security would then have a 45-day period to determine whether election meddling did occur, Coats said.
Coats noted that the United States sees signs that several countries, including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, have either the intention or capability of interfering in future US elections.
US Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr praised the new executive order because it, "sends a clear message that America can and will respond swiftly and decisively to Russia, Iran and any others who seek to undermine our free, fair and open elections."
Burr said the strengthening of election security was one of the recommendations the Senate Intelligence Committee made in the first part of its investigation into allegations of Russian election interference.
Senator Mike Rounds, who has co-sponsored legislation to increase election security, said in a statement about the executive order, "This is an important step in the right direction as we in Congress develop a long-term cyber deterrent policy, particularly when it comes to protecting the integrity of our election process."
However, the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark Warner said an executive order which "leaves the President broad discretion to decide whether to impose tough sanctions against those who attack our democracy is insufficient."
Warner said Trump has shown in Helsinki and elsewhere that he is not capable of standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The United States has already imposed sanctions on Russia on August 2, 2017 for its alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
Russia has repeatedly denied all allegations of meddling, calling such accusations absurd and invented to excuse the election loss of a presidential candidate as well as deflect public opinion from actual instances of election fraud, corruption and other pressing issues.
