The Homeland Security Department’s 2020 threat assessment warns of a host of national security risks to the United States, including foreign countries seeking to influence the upcoming presidential election and meddling with the 2020 census.
The 26-page Homeland Threat Assessment was released Monday evening, detailing numerous foreign and domestic threats. They ranged from white supremacist and anarchist violence to foreign terrorism and espionage, and multiple sections were devoted to laying out the DHS’s perspective on foreign-influence operations, including efforts by Russia, China, and Iran to exploit the coronavirus pandemic, sow discord in the U.S., and spread disinformation about democratic processes. The report comes a few weeks after a DHS whistleblower complaint alleged that top Trump administration officials, including acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, sought to politicize the intelligence surrounding foreign election interference. Wolf and the DHS have repeatedly and strenuously denied the claims.
