FBI Says Iran Behind Voter Intimidation Operation Spoofing Proud Boys

Iran used the guise of the far-right Proud Boys to send threatening emails to voters earlier this week, the FBI announced late Wednesday.At a hastily called evening press conference, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe made the bombshell announcement of concerted efforts to sow chaos in the upcoming vote.“We would like to alert the public that have identified that two foreign actors, Iran and Russia, have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections. ... We have already seen Iran sending spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest, and damage President Trump,” Ratcliffe said, adding that Iran is also “distributing other content” to imply voter fraud.“Although we have not seen the same actions from Russia, we are aware that they have obtained some voter registration information,” he said.“If you receive an intimidating or manipulative email in your inbox, don’t be alarmed and do not spread it,” Ratcliffe said.The announcement came just a day after authorities in Florida and Alaska sought help from the feds to investigate a flurry of emails that had been sent to Democratic voters demanding that they vote for Trump and switch their party affiliation. The emails, which had been made to look like they were sent from the Proud Boys, warned recipients that the group had all their private information and suggested that any attempt to disobey the directive would have nasty consequences: “You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you,” the messages read.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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