US national security adviser rejects Russia's meddling in US 2020 election

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 23 February 2020 9:11 PM

The US national security adviser has dismissed claims that the Russians are interfering in the 2020 presidential election with the goal of reelecting incumbent President Donald Trump.

"I haven't seen any intelligence that Russia is doing anything to attempt to get President Trump reelected," Robert O'Brien said in an interview with ABC News on Sunday.

"I think this is the same old story that we've heard before. ...We've been very tough on Russia, and we've been great on election security. So I think it's a nonstory."

During the ABC interview, O'Brien described reports that Russia wants to help Sanders as "no surprise" but sharply pushed back against ones dealing with Trump.

Earlier in the week, American intelligence officials claimed that Russia was interfering in the 2020 US presidential campaign after Moscow had a "developed preference" to reelect Trump.

The Kremlin rejected the "paranoid" claims and said the allegations were "like the usual paranoid announcements, which unfortunately will multiply as we get closer to the (US) election."

US officials have repeatedly claimed that Russia and other countries would seek to interfere in the forthcoming US presidential election race.

Russia has also been accused by US officials of meddling in the 2016 presidential election and colluding with Trump during his election campaign, a claim Moscow has repeatedly denied.

The allegations triggered an investigation into the matter by special counsel Robert Mueller, who, however, concluded in a report that there was no collusion between Trump's campaign team and the Russian government.

In April last year, a redacted version of the 400-page investigation by Mueller into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election was publicly released but stopped short of providing conclusive evidence of collusion between Trump and Moscow.