US to dismantle center tasked with countering ‘Russian influence’
The US will scale back an intelligence body created to counter foreign influence in the wake of alleged Russian election interference. The move is part of President Donald Trump’s broader campaign to cut wasteful spending and depoliticize federal agencies.
In a statement on Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the core functions of the “redundant” Foreign Malign Influence Center (FMIC) will be transferred to other bodies.
Congress established the FMIC in 2019 following claims of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, which Trump won. While Moscow denied seeking to sway the vote, Trump and the Republicans argued the allegations were part of a Democratic effort to delegitimize his victory and undermine his presidency.
“FMIC and its predecessor entities were used by the previous administration to justify the suppression of free speech and to censor political opposition,” Gabbard said.
Since mid-July, Gabbard has released multiple documents she claims expose a coordinated effort by senior Obama-era officials to falsely accuse Trump of colluding with Russia. On Tuesday, she added that, contrary to some claims, Moscow “did not appear to have any preference for one candidate over the other.”
According to Gabbard, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence became “hyper-focused” on elections in 2017 after the CIA prepared a “manufactured” report falsely claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to help Trump win.
