Democracy Under Attack: Foreign Interference in the 2024 Election

From assassination plans to the spread of misinformation, several malign actors have sought to sow division within American society and cast doubt on our democratic institutions.

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress

Last night, November 5th, millions of Americans cast their ballots in the presidential election and various House, Senate, gubernatorial, and local elections. This sacred duty performed across the country is a cherished right within the U.S. Though, this sanctity isn’t necessarily guaranteed.  

This election cycle was unprecedented in its level of foreign interference. From assassination plans to the spread of misinformation, several malign actors have sought to sow division within American society and cast doubt on our democratic institutions. 

Iran, China, and Russia have been the three principal adversaries seeking to disrupt this year’s election. While Iran aimed to bolster support for Vice President Harris and Russia favored former President (now President-elect) Trump, China seemingly had no preferred outcome. Each of these countries tried to disrupt America’s democratic process to advance its own interests.

Iranian Assassination Attempt

One of the most egregious instances of foreign election interference occurred in July when rumors of an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump became public. In that same month, the FBI quietly apprehended Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national working with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to assassinate Trump. Later, in September, the details of the sloppy Iranian assassination plot were revealed by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IO) in a leaked document given to the senator by a whistleblower. 

The records published by Grassley detailed how Merchant scouted out a Trump rally and sent assassination schematics to his IRGC handler. The FBI had long known about the Iranian scheme, following Merchant for months and going undercover as assassins-for-hire, which led them to confirm the intended target was Trump.  

The Iranian assassination scheme illustrates Tehran’s commitment to disrupting American domestic affairs. After President Trump killed Qasem Soleimani in a 2020 drone strike, Iran vowed to avenge the slain Iranian General by killing Trump. The foiled assassination plot from this summer proved they were serious. There is no doubt that if this plan succeeded, America would have been plunged into civic chaos, and potentially war with Iran. Although the plot failed, the assassination scheme added an extra layer of chaos and fear to an already fraught election cycle.

Disinformation Campaigns

Beyond the movie-esque foreign plots against top U.S. officials, America’s adversaries adopted aggressive social media campaigns to spread misinformation about the candidates and the security of the election. Russia, a known election meddler since their involvement in the 2016 election, used “bot farms” to flood Americans’ social media feeds with misinformation about the Harris campaign, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and U.S. involvement overseas. These Russian bots aimed to stoke isolationist sentiment and diminish American support for Ukraine. Russia has poured millions of dollars into its sophisticated bot operations, making it difficult for the Department of Justice to crack down on the thousands of troll accounts that attract millions of viewers. 

China has used a similar approach to Russia in its attempts to influence American politics. While their bot operations have not been aimed at one specific presidential candidate, they have focused their efforts on congressional races. Seeking to unseat China-policy hawks, Chinese actors launched attacks against several congressional Republican candidates who have been outspoken on the Chinese threat to American interests. Further, Chinese disinformation has been aimed at high-ranking congressional members, including chairmen and ranking members of influential committees, spreading claims that certain officials are corrupt and “abusing power for personal gain.” While their targets’ seats may not have been in jeopardy, Beijing hoped to destabilize American political discourse and weaken the country’s trust in elected officials. 

Campaign Breaches

Cybersecurity for the Harris and Trump campaigns was a major issue this cycle. Iran has coordinated the most high-profile campaign hacking schemes, tapping into the accounts of powerful GOP strategist Roger Stone and leaking stolen documents from the Trump campaign. Over the summer, three IRGC hackers sent phishing emails to Trump campaign staff, compromising accounts and gaining access to sensitive documents. These Iranian hackers even sent these documents to the Harris campaign, although this was unequivocally denounced by the Harris team. While Iran’s ambassador to the UN has denied these accusations, calling them “entirely baseless, lacking any credibility and legitimacy,” the DOJ has indicted the three IRGC hackers. 

More recently, hackers affiliated with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) targeted the phones of Trump, Harris, and Vance in a recent wide-net cyber operation. Tapping into the phone networks of officials from both campaigns, the Chinese hackers attempted to collect intelligence from both campaigns. The breadth of the operation, with no preferred target, demonstrates the PRC’s sustained efforts to undermine American election security and heighten domestic political tensions. 

Moving Forward

Although the impact of foreign interference in U.S. elections is unclear, the U.S. must remain vigilant in safeguarding the country’s domestic politics from the coercive actions of foreign adversaries.  America’s adversaries will continue to disrupt America’s domestic affairs and worsen political polarization. U.S. citizens and officials must be aware of these foreign threats and understand the need to prevent them to preserve our precious democratic institutions.