President Trump met with the country’s top security officials Friday and was briefed by the National Security Council on government-wide efforts to thwart interference or attacks on the U.S. election process ahead of the November races, according to the White House.
The White House Office of the Press Secretary said Trump chaired the meeting and discussed “malign foreign actors, efforts underway to provide cybersecurity assistance to state and local authorities, and actions to investigate, prosecute, and hold accountable those who illegally attempt to interfere in our political and electoral processes.”
Secretaries from the State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security departments, as well as leaders of the CIA, Joint Chiefs of Staff, FBI, U.S. Cyber Command, and others attended the meeting.
[More: DHS official warns 2018 midterm elections a potential target for Russian interference]
“The president has made it clear that his administration will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections from any nation state or other malicious actors,” the Office of the Press Secretary said in a statement.
One attendee, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, was asked ahead of the briefing what the government is doing to prevent Russia from interfering in this year’s midterm elections.
“I’m not at liberty to explain what we’re doing in that regard. Just, rest assured, there are actions underway to protect our — our elections or to expose any external — any — by anybody — external efforts to influence the American public, to show false news, that sort of thing,” Mattis told reporters.
The sit-down comes four days before top government officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and National Security Agency Director Gen. Paul Nakasone hold a summit in Manhattan to discuss election security efforts.
During a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month, Trump said he doubts Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Following criticism from some of the media and even Republican lawmakers, Trump changed tones and said he held Putin “responsible” for the interference.
[Opinion: The Russians, or someone else, could really hack the 2018 midterm elections]
