The assessment by Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, was the result of a request by the White House before the November vote that he examine election meddling by Russia and other powers. The agency did not release that report, but Coats released a statement on the document.
“Russia, and other foreign countries, including China and Iran, conducted influence activities and messaging campaigns targeted at the United States to promote their strategic interests,” Coats said in the statement.
The statement contained little detail, but U.S. officials said the intelligence report found Russia continued to use social media, fake personas and Moscow-controlled media to influence positions on opposite ideological sides with an aim of further polarizing the United States.
The report will be sent to the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Under the executive order issued in September, automatic sanctions could be imposed when the government review is complete on anyone found to have tried to manipulate the vote.
Coats said in his statement that the report did not include an assessment of the effectiveness of the Russian information campaign. The public report also did not include an assessment on whether Russian attempts at election meddling were tilted toward a particular party or candidate. Current and former U.S. officials have said that Russian propaganda efforts in the midterm elections were less than expected.
Some officials attributed the diminished Russian activity at least in part to efforts by the government and technology companies.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the report shows the Russians did not stop attempts at election meddling after 2016.
“Now that the Russian playbook is out in the open,” Warner said, “we’re going to see more and more adversaries trying to take advantage of the openness of our society to sow division and attempt to manipulate Americans.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.