The Russian Embassy in Washington has hit back at claims over election interference amid claims of hoax bomb threats.
According to the FBI, the threats, many of which appeared to originate from Russian email domains, were directed on Tuesday at polling locations in four battleground states as Election Day voting was underway
The states impacted are believed to be Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin.
An FBI spokesperson said: “None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far”, adding that election integrity was among the bureau’s highest priorities.
The Russian Embassy has denied the claims, calling them ‘malicious slander’
Reuters
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The row broke out after Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, blamed Russian interference for the Election Day bomb hoaxes.
He told reporters: “They’re up to mischief, it seems. They don’t want us to have a smooth, fair and accurate election, and if they can get us to fight among ourselves, they can count that as a victory.”
A spokesperson for Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state, said there had been reports of bomb threats at several polling locations, but none were credible. Benson’s office had been notified that the threats may be tied to Russia, the spokesperson said.
Adrian Fontes, the Democrat Arizona secretary of state said four fake bomb threats had been delivered to polling sites in Navajo County, located in the northeastern part of the state and which includes three Native American tribes.
Fontes, who is the chief election official in the swing state, said: “Vladimir Putin is being a p***k.”
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Arizona Secretary Of State Adrian Fontes called Vladimir Putin a ‘p***k’
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The Russian embassy in Washington hit back at the claims, saying the insinuations about Russian interference were “malicious slander.”
A spokesperson from the embassy said in a statement: “We would like to emphasise that Russia has not interfered and does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, including the United States. As President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed, we respect the will of the American people.”
The fake bomb threats mark the latest in a string of examples of alleged interference by the Russians in the 2024 election.
On November 1, US intelligence officials warned that Russian actors manufactured a video that falsely depicted Haitians illegally casting ballots in Georgia.
Intelligence officials also found that the Russians created a separate phony video that falsely accused someone associated with the Harris presidential ticket of taking a bribe from an entertainer.
The Russian Embassy in Washington DC issued the statement
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US intelligence officials have also accused Russia of interfering in previous US presidential elections, especially the 2016 race which Trump won against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump are locked in a tight race to win the White House.
Opinion polls suggest the contest is too close to call.