Hegseth:Forces to Guard Election System09/29 06:16

   

   (AP) -- The U.S. National Security Agency and other military intelligence 
and cybersecurity forces will guard election systems during the 
https://apnews.com/article/early-voting-midterms-congress-10a3e620ce194144ce1af5
e9d4fb6786, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday.

   Military cybersecurity experts have routinely helped monitor systems and 
deter potential hackers since election equipment was designated " 
https://apnews.com/united-states-government-64a7228c974d43009cdfc2b98766320b " 
in 2017.

   But Hegseth's announcement comes after President Donald Trump 
https://apnews.com/article/election-security-cisa-trump-kristi-noem-6c437543f5d2
6d890704e5f2a8400502 specifically created to safeguard election infrastructure, 
a division of the Department of Homeland Security called the U.S. Cybersecurity 
and Infrastructure Security Agency. That agency last week 
https://apnews.com/article/elections-cybersecurity-midterms-cisa-states-e735771e
2faac8ba3b2b473d3df9bc5b that lays out potential threats to election systems 
and lists services it would offer to election officials to protect the vote.

   Both announcements come just weeks before Election Day on Nov. 3 and with 
early voting already underway. The short timeline "suggests this is just 
theater," said David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department attorney who 
leads the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research.

   "If the administration was serious about assisting state and local election 
officials, they shouldn't have dismantled all of the federal government's 
election cybersecurity capacity and fired all their experts in early 2025," he 
said.

   Though cybersecurity assistance from the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command is 
routine, many elections experts, civil rights groups and Democratic election 
officials are on guard for signs of 
https://apnews.com/article/midterm-election-trump-interference-democrats-strateg
y-b855934d06eb167ac5b1cc2da1c93d72 by the Trump administration. The president 
continues to 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-2020-election-false-claims-fraud-georgia-557868
48ca20c02cbcf749ede2db8852 that elections are rife with fraud while 
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mail-voting-elections-47cc334b1fb7742244
a9c4f176b355cd with longstanding election procedures.

   The U.S. Supreme Court 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-mail-voting-executive-order-lawsuit-78a4fbeb48d
9c5fd27d1c865529fc65f by Trump to restrict mail voting but has 
https://apnews.com/article/save-database-noncitizen-voters-trump-supreme-court-4
12e12f5a492dd20e407812f30f7c139 of a 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-voter-eligibility-purge-noncitizens-disenfranch
ised-8f78773f583e4404136707c62acc648a to check the citizenship of voters.

   In a memo dated Sept. 22 and publicly announced Monday, Hegseth directed 
defense intelligence officials to mobilize every resource "to defend our 
election infrastructure from foreign malign influence and ensure that every 
lawful voter can cast their ballot free from foreign intimidation, coercion, or 
fear."