US intel officials postpone classified threat briefing for election officials after technical difficulties

US intelligence officials had to postpone a much-anticipated classified briefing for election officials about foreign threats because the video call was plagued by technical difficulties, according to six people familiar with the matter.

Election officials from across the country, who rearranged their schedules on short notice less than three weeks before Election Day, were left frustrated after federal officials were unable to get the video call to work on Thursday, the sources said.

The briefing was set to be the first time since the 2024 presidential election that state election officials heard from federal agencies in a classified setting about the threat environment from foreign powers like Russia, Iran and China, according to three of the sources.

Officials from the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence planned to lead the briefing, while the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was supposed to help facilitate it.

“Glad they don’t run the election,” one person familiar with the call said, referring to the federal officials who organized the call.

Invites to election officials went out just a couple days prior to the briefing, and some election officials who wanted to get access to the briefing were unable to, one of the sources familiar with the call said.

One county election director said their security team wasn’t able to connect to the briefing due to the technical difficulties. An election official in another state said the briefing was “abruptly cancelled” about 15 to 30 minutes after it was scheduled to begin, and that the federal officials didn’t offer much explanation.

CNN has requested comment from all three federal agencies that hosted the aborted briefing.

The mishap comes as many Americans have already cast their ballots in the midterm elections, and as US intelligence officials continue to monitor for attempts by foreign powers such as Russia and Iran to sow discord among voters.

At least one election official who spoke to CNN pointed out that the briefing was supposed to take place the same week that multiple election offices received suspicious letters containing white powders. That matter is now under investigation by the FBI, and the briefing Thursday was unrelated to the letters.

The blunders in organizing Thursday’s briefing stem from the fact that federal officials in the second Trump administration have not been in touch as regularly with election officials about security issues as in prior administrations, three of the sources said.

In the first Trump administration and the Biden administration after, the FBI, CISA and ODNI regularly briefed election officials on the latest intelligence on Russia, Iran and China’s possible intentions toward the midterm and general elections. The briefings covered hacking threats, disinformation and other activity emanating from those nations and from others.

But the second Trump administration disbanded or downsized several government centers that were tasked with repelling foreign influence operations. The administration also dismantled CISA’s election security work and fired or reassigned many of the agency’s experts on the subject. In the last three months, the Trump administration has begun to rebuild some of that election security work while continuing to pursue evidence that supports the president’s false claims of widespread election fraud.

In June, CISA told Congress that it had assigned new officials to build “trusted relationships” with state and local elected officials, CNN has reported .

Last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo directing the military to defend the US midterm elections from foreign interference. The activities outlined in the memo are largely things that US military and spy agencies were doing to protect American elections from foreign threats prior to Donald Trump returning to the presidency in 2025.

Trump has also continued to dismiss or question past US intelligence about Russian and Chinese efforts to influence elections. Those factors prompted widespread concern among current and former US national security officials that the second Trump administration was not prioritizing defending US elections from foreign meddling.

据六位知情人士透露，由于视频通话出现技术故障，美国情报官员不得不推迟一场备受期待的、针对选举官员的关于外国威胁的机密简报会。

消息人士称，全国各地的选举官员在距离选举日不到三周的时间里临时调整了日程安排，但由于联邦官员周四未能使视频通话正常工作，他们感到非常沮丧。

据三位消息人士透露，此次简报会是自 2024 年总统大选以来，各州选举官员首次在保密环境下听取联邦机构关于来自俄罗斯、伊朗和中国等外国势力的威胁环境的汇报。

联邦调查局和国家情报总监办公室的官员计划主持简报会，而国土安全部的网络安全和基础设施安全局 (CISA) 则应协助进行简报会。

一位熟悉此次通话的人士表示：“很高兴他们没有参与选举”，他指的是组织此次通话的联邦官员。

据一位知情人士透露，选举官员的邀请函是在简报会召开前几天才发出的，一些想要参加简报会的选举官员未能如愿。

一位县选举主任表示，由于技术故障，他们的安保团队无法连接到简报会。另一州的一位选举官员表示，简报会在预定开始时间约15至30分钟后“突然取消”，联邦官员并未给出太多解释。

CNN已向所有三个举办此次被取消的简报会的联邦机构征求意见。

此次意外发生之际，许多美国人已经投出了中期选举的选票，而美国情报官员也继续监控俄罗斯和伊朗等外国势力企图在选民中制造不和的举动。

至少一位接受CNN采访的选举官员指出，此次简报会原定于多个选举办公室收到含有白色粉末的可疑信件的同一周举行。目前，联邦调查局正在对此事进行调查，而周四的简报会与这些信件无关。

三位消息人士称，周四简报会组织上的失误源于这样一个事实：特朗普第二届政府的联邦官员与选举官员就安全问题进行的沟通不如以往的政府频繁。

在特朗普第一任期和拜登之后的任期内，联邦调查局（FBI）、网络安全和基础设施安全局（CISA）以及国家情报总监办公室（ODNI）定期向选举官员通报有关俄罗斯、伊朗和中国可能对中期选举和总统大选采取的行动的最新情报。这些通报涵盖了来自这些国家和其他国家的网络攻击威胁、虚假信息和其他活动。

但特朗普第二任期政府解散或缩减了几个负责抵御外国影响力行动的政府机构。该政府还解散了网络安全和基础设施安全局（CISA）的选举安全工作，并解雇或调离了该机构的许多相关专家。在过去三个月里，特朗普政府开始重建部分选举安全工作，同时继续寻找证据，以支持总统关于选举舞弊普遍存在的虚假说法。

据 CNN 报道，CISA 在 6 月份告诉国会，它已指派新官员与州和地方民选官员建立“信任关系”。

上个月，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯签署了一份备忘录，指示军方保护美国中期选举免受外国干预。备忘录中列出的行动，与唐纳德·特朗普在2025年再次当选总统之前，美国军方和情报机构为保护美国选举免受外国威胁而采取的措施大体相同。

特朗普还持续否认或质疑美国此前关于俄罗斯和中国试图干预选举的情报。这些因素引发了现任和前任美国国家安全官员的普遍担忧，他们认为特朗普第二任期政府并未将保护美国选举免受外国干预作为优先事项。