William Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, announced in a Friday statement that Russia is “using a range of measures to primarily denigrate” Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for being against the Russian “establishment.”
“This is consistent with Moscow’s public criticism of him when he was Vice President for his role in the Obama Administration’s policies on Ukraine and its support for the anti-Putin opposition inside Russia,” Evanina said in a press release. As an apparent part of this effort to undermine Biden, a Rudy Giuliani associate, the pro-Russia Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach, has been “spreading claims about corruption—including through publicizing leaked phone calls,” the counterintel chief said. “Some Kremlin-linked actors are also seeking to boost President Trump’s candidacy on social media and Russian television,” the statement adds.
The Daily Beast reported last December that Derkach has been spreading wildly inaccurate allegations—including information he’s claimed could bring down Biden—that are being held up by Giuliani and other figures in President Trump’s orbit.
