Russia a keyboard click away from interference in US mid-term polls: Intelligence chief

Dan Coats was among five top national security leaders who blasted Russian efforts to interfere in US elections.

Russian efforts to interfere in upcoming US midterm elections have yet to reach the intensity of the Kremlin’s campaign to disrupt the 2016 presidential vote, but they’re only “a keyboard click away” from a more serious attack, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said.

Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, speaks during a White House press briefing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018. (Bloomberg)

“We have not seen that kind of robust campaign from them so far,” Coats said in a briefing at the White House on Thursday.

Coats was among five top national security leaders -- including National Security Adviser John Bolton, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and General Paul Nakasone, director of the National Security Agency -- who blasted Russian efforts to interfere in US elections.

Coats said the Russians “are looking for every opportunity, regardless of party” to disrupt US elections.