Unlike 2016, Officials Find No Evidence of Foreign Meddling Impacting Blue Wave Midterms

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top U.S. officials said on Tuesday that foreign actors did not significantly influence the 2018 congressional elections, despite reports of hacking attempts leading up to the November election.

The statement by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stands in contrast to the 2016 presidential election, which U.S. officials say was the target of a sophisticated Russian hacking and propaganda campaign.

The two agencies said the U.S. government has found no evidence that foreign governments or agents had an impact last November, when Democrats won control of the House of Representatives. Neither political campaigns nor electronic voting machines or other infrastructure was significantly affected, they said in a joint statement. They declined to provide further detail.

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The National Republican Congressional Committee, which works to elect Republican candidates, said it was the target of a hacking attempt last year.

U.S. prosecutors are investigating whether Donald Trump’s campaign worked with the Kremlin to win the 2016 election. Trump denies any collusion, and Moscow has also denied involvement.

U.S. intelligence officials warned last week that Russia and China are already targeting the 2020 presidential election.

(Reporting by Tim Ahmann and Susan Heavey; Editing by Mohammad Zargham and David Gregorio)