Biden puts Russia ‘on notice’ over interference in US election

Biden said he would act aggressively as president to counter any meddling in the country’s democracy

In a letter to the FBI chief, the Democratic leaders warned that Congress appears to be the target of a foreign interference campaign

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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:39am, 21 Jul 2020Updated: 7:12am, 17 Oct 2020

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Monday that he is putting Russia and other foreign governments “on notice” that he would act aggressively as president to counter any interference in US elections. The statement came hours after Democratic leaders issued a new warning that Congress appears to be the target of a foreign interference campaign.

Biden said in a statement that he would treat foreign interference as an “an adversarial act that significantly affects the relationship between the United States and the interfering nation’s government.”

He criticised President Donald Trump for not doing enough in response to US intelligence agencies’ assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

“If any foreign power recklessly chooses to interfere in our democracy, I will not hesitate to respond as president to impose substantial and lasting costs,” Biden said.

The new alarms give a renewed urgency to concerns that foreign actors could be trying to influence the vote or sow disinformation. Biden said last week that he had begun receiving intelligence briefings and warned that Russia, China and other adversaries were attempting to undermine the presidential election.

Biden gave no evidence, but he said that Russia was “still engaged” after 2016 and that China was also involved in efforts to sow doubts in the American electoral process.