U S. Warns Russia Over Attempts To Influence Midterm Elections

The U.S. has warned Russia over any attempts to meddle in the midterm elections in November, following recent Facebook’s disclosure of malign activities by external forces targeted at the elections.

The U.S. Department of State in a statement by its Spokesperson, Ms Heather Nauert, warned Russia that the U.S. would not tolerate foreign attempts to subvert its democratic processes and institutions.

Facebook had announced recently that it uncovered some fake Facebook accounts aimed at causing disaffection during the elections in November and had removed them.

Nauert said: “We demand that Russia and all other malign actors immediately cease this reckless behaviour.

“As President Trump, Vice President Pence and Secretary Pompeo have said repeatedly, the United States will not tolerate foreign, including Russian, attempts to subvert our democratic processes and institutions’’.

The U.S. Government applauded Facebook’s decision to expunge accounts, orchestrated from abroad, that fomented division and violence inside the United States.

“These efforts are part of a broader external campaign aimed at weakening America and threatening our way of life by pitting citizens against each other and sowing discord in general.

“We urge all technology companies to take an aggressive approach to this insidious problem,’’ the spokesperson said. 

Alleged Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, in which President Donald Trump won by Electoral College but lost to his archival and Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, by almost three million popular votes, led to the set-up of the special panel headed by Robert Mueller.

Trump received 304 electoral votes and Clinton garnered 227 but while Trump polled 62,984,825 or 46.4 per cent of the popular votes, Clinton polled 65,853,516 or 48.5 per cent.

However, Trump has repeatedly and angrily claimed witch-hunt by the Democrats and insisted that there was no collusion.

The U.S. president tweeted on Wednesday demanding that Attorney General Jeff Sessions end the investigation panel.