FBI command post ‘triaging’ election threats to share with state and local partners

Since Nov. 1, an FBI command post has been operating 24/7 and will continue to for at least nine days to to ensure the election is safe and secure.

“This command post is an opportunity for us to bring people together, all the different subject matter experts here in the FBI at headquarters and in the field, and we bring in our partners so the intelligence and threats that come in, and we can disseminate that information to the key partners, which is state and local officials around the United States,” said Jim Barnacle, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division.

The command post is staffed with 80 people from more than a dozen agencies from the U.S. Capitol Police to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The FBI is focused on criminal threats, such as threats to election workers, foreign malign influence, cyberthreats and acts of violence.

Barnacle said there have been some foreign operations that they have seen as well as “some attempted cyber attacks.”

“Russia, China and Iran are seeking to influence us, government, policy and politics for their benefit, they are also looking to undermine democracy, sow discord and undermine Washington’s standing in the world,” he said.

Last week, the intelligence community found that Russian actors were behind a video purporting to show Haitian migrants voting in Georgia.
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Also in Georgia, there was a denial of service attack on the secretary of state’s office. Officials are ready for those incidents to occur and stress there is no material impacting on voting, Barnacle said.

“The FBI is looking at all those threats that come in here in the command post,” he said. “We’re triaging that information.”

Barnacle said the FBI learned from its 2016 and 2020 operations and have improved its communications. When it comes to physical threats, he said it’s important for state and locals to have the information they need to act.

“We’ve learned our lessons in the past,” he said. “We are trying to share information.”

The FBI isn’t monitoring social media and wants to ensure the First Amendment is followed, but when threats are made that is when they step in.

People are more aware about how to report things that happen than in years past, but that has resulted in only a smaller uptick in reporting incidents, he said.

“That’s what we’re asking people to do when they see a threat of violence or they see a foreign malign influence operation, we’re asking people, if they see threats of violence or they see criminal activity, to report that to state and local election officials and law enforcement,” he said.

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