Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks at the Convening of the Election Threats Task Force

Remarks as Delivered

Good afternoon, everyone.

We launched the Election Threats Task Force to respond to a dangerous increase in violent threats against the public servants who administer our elections.

We did so because countless Americans were enduring terrible threats simply for doing their civic duty.

And we did so because threats to election workers constitute threats to our democracy itself.

In just a few minutes, the Task Force here will meet to discuss its continuing work in advance of the upcoming elections.

But before we begin, I want to address the tragic shooting that occurred this morning at a high school in Winder, Georgia.

We are still gathering information, but FBI and ATF are on the scene working with state, local, and federal partners.

I am devastated for the families who have been affected by this terrible tragedy.

The Justice Department stands ready to provide any resources or support the Winder community needs in the days ahead.

Before I get to the work of the Task Force, I also want to announce two major law enforcement actions the Justice Department is taking that are separate from the important work of this Task Force, but are part of our broader effort to protect our elections from unlawful interference of any kind.

First, this morning, we unsealed an indictment in the Southern District of New York of Konstantine Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, two Russia-based employees of RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet. They are charged with conspiring to commit money laundering and to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

That law, enacted nearly a century ago, was enacted to ensure that the American people were informed when a foreign power engages in political activities or seeks to influence public discourse.

The American people are entitled to know when a foreign power is attempting to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to send around its own propaganda. The company never disclosed to the — I’m sorry.

And that is what we allege happened in this case.

In the wake of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, RT — which was then known as Russia Today — was dropped by its American distributors. The company ceased its formal operations in the United States. And the European Union, the U.K., and Canada banned RT’s broadcasting.

But, as RT itself has boasted, the Government of Russia continued to use RT to direct disinformation and propaganda. In the wake of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, RT’s editor-in-chief said the company had built an “entire empire of covert projects” designed to shape public opinion in “Western audiences.”

We allege that, as part of that effort, RT and its employees, including the defendants, implemented a nearly $10 million scheme to fund and direct a Tennessee-based company, to publish and disseminate content deemed favorable to the Russian government.

To implement this scheme, the defendants directed the company to contract with U.S.-based social media influencers to share this content on their platforms.

The subject matter and content of many of the videos published by the company were often consistent with Russia’s interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition to core Russian interests, particularly its ongoing war in Ukraine.

The company never disclosed to the influencers — or to their millions of followers — its ties to RT and the Russian government. Instead, the defendants and the company claimed that the company was sponsored by a private investor. That private investor was a fictitious persona.

The charges unsealed this morning do not represent the end of the investigation. It remains active and ongoing.

In a separate enforcement action, the Justice Department is seizing 32 internet domains that the Russian government and Russian sponsored actors have used to engage in a covert campaign to interfere in and influence the outcome of our country’s elections.

As alleged in our court filings, President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, including Sergei Kiriyenko, directed Russian public relations companies to promote disinformation and state-sponsored narratives as part of a program to influence the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election.

An internal planning document created by the Kremlin states that a goal of the campaign is securing Russia’s preferred outcome in the election.

The online infrastructure used by the Russian public relations company — known as the Social Design Agency, or SDA — and related actors included what are sometimes referred to as “cybersquatted” domains. These websites were designed to appear to American readers as if they were major U.S. news sites like The Washington Post or Fox News.

But, in fact, they were fake sites. They were filled with Russian government propaganda that had been created by the Kremlin to reduce international support for Ukraine, bolster pro-Russian policies and interests, and influence voters in the United States and other in countries.

Internal documents of the Kremlin described the content as, “bogus stories disguised as newsworthy events.” This malign influence campaign has been referred to as “Doppelganger.”  

The Russian public relations companies drove viewers to these websites by deploying influencers and paid social media advertisements. They also created fake social media profiles, posing as U.S. citizens, to post comments on social media platforms with links to the sites.

According to SDA’s records, it actively sought to “eliminate the possibility of detection of the ‘Russian footprint.’”

Both of the schemes I have just discussed make clear the ends to which the Russian government — including at its highest levels — is willing to go to undermine our democratic process.

But the enforcement actions I have discussed also make clear that the Justice Department will aggressively counter such efforts.

And the same is true of the entire United States Government.

Today, our colleagues at the State and Treasury Departments are announcing parallel actions in both of these matters.

Unfortunately, we know that Russia is not the only foreign power seeking to interfere in our elections.

As the U.S. Intelligence Community noted two weeks ago, we have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle.

That includes recently reported activities by Iran to compromise former President Trump’s campaign and to avoid an election outcome that it regards as against its interests. Those recently reported Iranian activities also include efforts to obtain access to individuals who themselves have access to the presidential campaigns of both political parties.

The Justice Department’s message is clear: we have no tolerance for attempts by authoritarian regimes to exploit our democratic system of government.

We will be relentlessly aggressive in countering and disrupting attempts by Russia and Iran — as well as China or any other foreign malign actor — to interfere in our elections and undermine our democracy.

Now, I will to turn back to the topic of today’s meeting. Just as we are dedicated to combating foreign threats to our election security, we are equally dedicated to confront domestic threats against the public servants who administer our elections.

Since the 2020 election, we have seen an unprecedented spike in threats against the public servants who do administer our elections.

Election officials, workers, and volunteers in communities across the country have been targeted with heinous acts and threats of violence. The following are a few examples of successful enforcement actions that the Justice Department has taken over the past year:

In New Mexico, county commissioners and other elected officials were targeted with a series of shootings that the Department has alleged in court papers were organized by an unsuccessful candidate for the state legislature who claimed that the election had been “rigged” against him. At least three of the shootings occurred while the intended victims or their children or their family members were at home.

In February, two shooters who we allege were recruited by the candidate pled guilty to carrying out the attacks. In March, the candidate himself was charged in a 13-count superseding indictment.

In Arizona, a man sent a state election official a bomb threat warning that if she did not resign within two days, “the explosive device impacted in her personal space will be detonated.” In March, the man was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for making the threat.

In Maricopa County, Arizona, an elections official, a county attorney, and their families were threatened by a defendant who called for "a mass shooting of poll workers and election officials” in precincts he believed had “suspect” results. His revolting comments included: “dead children burn into the memories of people.”

The county attorney who had been targeted later reported that he, his wife, and four children had been assigned round-the-clock protection and issued body armor in response to the threat.

And the elections official who was targeted said in a victim impact statement that:

“While I am the person directly threatened [in] this case, the impact of such threats is felt by a much larger community: the thousands of committed election workers who operate our democratic processes. When threats are made against any election workers, the impact reverberates [through] the [whole] community.”

That defendant was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

In recent months, our enforcement actions have continued.

In July, we secured the guilty plea of an Alabama man who repeatedly threatened to kill Maricopa County election workers and officials. In one particularly chilling message, he said: “You better not come in my church, my business or send your kids to my school. You are […] stupid if you think [your lives] are safe.” His sentencing is scheduled for next month.      

Also in July, the Justice Department secured a 14-month sentence for a man who sent a death threat to a Michigan election worker. In a voicemail, he said: “Ten million plus patriots will surround you when you least expect it.” And he added, “We’ll […] kill you.”   

Less than two weeks ago, we charged and arrested a Colorado man for allegedly threatening the lives of election officials, judges, and law enforcement officials in both Colorado and Arizona.

As I have said before, and I will reiterate again today, these cases are a warning: if you threaten to harm or kill an election worker or official or volunteer, the Justice Department will find you. And we will hold you accountable.

In a democracy, people vote and argue and debate — often loudly — in order to achieve the policy outcomes they desire.

And the Justice Department will continue to relentlessly protect the rights of all Americans to peacefully express their opinions, beliefs, and ideas.

But the promise of our democracy is that people will not employ violence to achieve their preferred outcomes.

The public servants who administer our elections must be able to do their jobs without fearing for their lives.

That is why this Task Force has been marshaling the full resources of the Justice Department to aggressively investigate and prosecute threats targeting election workers, officials, and volunteers.

And we will continue to do so in the months ahead, when the Task Force will build on the partnerships with state and local election officials and the law enforcement officials tasked with protecting them.

Since March, the Task Force has participated in more than 25 convenings, engagements, trainings, tabletop exercises — including both with our law enforcement partners and with our partners in the election community nationwide.

 Over the next several weeks, Task Force representatives will be on the ground meeting with election workers.

And in early November — both in advance of, and after Election Day — the FBI will be hosting federal partners at its Headquarters command center to address events, issues, and potential crimes related to the elections in real time.

Election officials and administrators do not need to navigate this threat environment alone. We are here to support them and to make sure they can safely carry out their critical work.

Protecting our democracy and protecting our elections was a founding purpose when the Justice Department was established in 1870.

The Department answered that charge then. And we will answer that charge today as we confront those who would use violence or threats of violence to attack those who administer our elections.

I’d now like to ask the Deputy Attorney General to make some remarks.

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

Source: Justice.gov