Former top intelligence officials waded into the debate over foreign election interference as top leaders in the Trump administration suggest China poses the greatest election security threat, while Democrats accuse them of twisting the intelligence to steer attention away from Russia.

The most senior of those ex-officials to emerge is Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence from 2017 to 2019, who, according to a Washington Post report published Wednesday, “is firm that Russia is the most significant foreign threat to the 2020 election.” He is quoted as telling the outlet that the Russians “clearly have demonstrated the capacity to do things other countries either can’t do or have decided not to do, and they have a long, long history there.”