The White House is working on an executive order that would allow President Trump to impose sanctions on any foreigner who meddles in U.S. elections, according to a report.
The draft order, still subject to change, creates a new “election interference” category of offense that would trigger a range of sanctions, per the Washington Post.
The only mandatory sanction will be slapped on individuals found to have taken part in campaigns aimed at influencing elections; however, similar sanctions implemented by both the Obama and Trump administrations have had little success as a deterrent with Russia still posing a threat to the 2018 midterm elections.
But strong discretionary sanctions included in the draft permit Trump to sanction “10 of the 30 largest business entities” in a country whose government interfered, the draft order reportedly states.
One Trump official told the Washington Post on Wednesday that the potential order demonstrated the president’s commitment to protect American electoral processes. But it incorporates a phrase that “there has been no evidence of a foreign power altering a single vote in a United States election.”
The proposal comes as the White House faces continued criticism over its weak response to Russia, despite the intelligence community believing the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 presidential campaigns.
[Byron York: Why Trump doesn’t admit Russian election interference]
