Democrats warn of Russian misinformation in US midterms

Updated / Thursday, 22 Oct 2026 04:10

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Democrats in the US have said that they received an intelligence briefing that Russia has been waging a misinformation campaign against their candidates running in next month's midterm elections.

The ⁠comments by Senator Mark Warner and Representative Jim Himes come as Republican President Donald Trump has in recent weeks eased economic sanctions on Russia and increased pressure on Ukraine to end its fight against Russian forces.

Mr Warner and Mr Himes told reporters they were limited in revealing what they had learned in an election security briefing that they had requested from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton because it was classified.

They claim that Russia was waging the same kind of online misinformation campaign that the US intelligence community had tracked in US elections in 2016, 2020 and 2024.

"And the state of play, I would argue, is ‌that, you know, Russia, similar to ⁠prior occasions, is going after Democrats," Mr Warner said.

He noted news reports that Democrat James Talarico, who is running for the US Senate in Texas, and Senator Jon Ossoff, who is seeking re-election in Georgia, "in particular are being dinged" by fake advertisements created with AI.

The Russian embassy did not ‌immediately respond to a request for comment. Moscow has denied meddling in US elections in the past.

Mr Himes said the pair could not provide details of the misinformation spread by ⁠Russia because the material was classified. But he added that Moscow's conduct has been "the same old, same old".

"The Russians ‌are kind of throwing everything out there", said Mr Himes. "Chaos, you know, don't trust your voting ⁠machines".

He added there ‌was "no reason to believe" that China had not been conducting "extremely targeted" efforts as it has done in the past to influence voters.

Beijing has previously denied interfering in US elections and the Chinese Embassy in Washington described Mr Himes' comment as "a false allegation and serious smear that ⁠has long been proved to be unfounded."

Recent Reuters/Ipsos polling has shown Democrats leading Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, bolstering Democratic hopes of regaining control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate.

Democrats said they were concerned that Trump could pursue efforts to challenge election results, including by claiming foreign hacking of voting infrastructure.

Mr Himes emphasised that there was no evidence that any country could penetrate US election systems and change results.

"Nothing out there suggests that there is even the capability or the intent to do interference, whereas there ‌is a pretty robust influence environment," said Mr Himes.