Trump demolishes the government’s strategy to combat foreign control activities

Despite continued concerns that adversaries are stoking political and social divisions by spreading misinformation and propaganda online, current and former federal officials said, the Trump presidency is targeting state officials who had been flagging foreign meddling in U.S. elections.

According to them, the administration has already forced out some of the agency’s employees who work on the issue at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and some hundred others at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is a division of the Department of Homeland Security.

The reductions have focused on those who were working on more comprehensive safeguards to protect votes from cyberattacks or other attempts to obstruct voting systems in addition to fighting fake information online. The teams conducted and made several influence operations from Russia, China, and Iran public in the previous year’s election to lessen their impact on hapless voters.

Experts worry that the cuts may weaken American defenses against secret foreign influence operations and bolster international adversaries ‘ efforts to overthrow democratic governments.

Democratic secretary of state Adrian Fontes, a representative from Arizona, warned President Trump in a text that the reductions would be comparable to shutting down the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the wake of hurricane season.

At a time when our opponents around the world are using online tools to drive their agendas and ideologies into our very homes, he wrote,” This judgement undermines Arizona’s vote protection.”