Hindustan Times : Feb 22, 2020, 12:15 PM
Washington: US intelligence officials told lawmakers in a confidential briefing last week that Russia is meddling in the 2020 poll campaign to ensure the re-election of President Donald Trump, viewing his administration as favourable to Kremlin’s interests, according to media reports.Though no specifics were reported, The New York Times, which broke the news, said Moscow intended to interfere in the 2020 Democratic nominating contests and the general election, which is due in November.Russia has denied it was interfering in the US election. “These are new paranoid reports, which, to our deep regret, will continue to grow in number as the election day approaches,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Naturally, they have nothing to do with the truth.”Trump on Friday dismissed reported warnings by US intelligence that Russia is meddling in this year’s elections as a “hoax” planted by his Democratic rivals.“Another misinformation campaign is being launched by Democrats in Congress saying that Russia prefers me to any of the Do Nothing Democrat candidates who still have been unable to, after two weeks, count their votes in Iowa,” Trump wrote on Twitter.On Thursday, a judge sentenced Trump’s adviser Roger Stone to three years and four months in prison and said his lies to lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016 US election posed a threat to American democracy.