Warner, Himes: Russia Targeting Midterms
On Oct. 21, 2026, Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees, spoke to reporters at a Capitol Hill roundtable. They had just received a classified briefing on foreign threats to the Nov. 3 midterms, which they requested from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton on Oct. 2. Both said the briefing showed Russia running a disinformation and influence campaign aimed at Democratic candidates and at supporters of Ukraine in both parties, as it did in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Warner pointed to news reports that AI-generated fake ads were hitting Texas Senate nominee James Talarico and Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia. Himes said China's efforts remain "extremely targeted" and named Iran and North Korea too. He said Iran could "take a couple of extra shots at ships in the Strait of Hormuz" to drive up oil prices and shift American voters. Both said they had seen no sign that any foreign government could tamper with voting machines or change results. They said they would publicly contradict any claim by the president that foreign interference justified disputing the outcome if he had not briefed them on it. They said they could not describe specifics because the material is classified. The White House, ODNI and the Russian embassy did not immediately comment. The Chinese embassy called Himes's remark "a false allegation and serious smear."
“[At a Capitol Hill press roundtable after a classified election-threat briefing:] And the state of play, I would argue, is that, you know, Russia, similar to prior occasions, is going after Democrats. … [Every election cycle since 2016, Russia has spread disinformation to undermine Democrats.] That's just a factual basis.”